Pseudomonas exotoxin A with less immunogenic T cell and/or B cell epitopes

ABSTRACT

The invention provides a  Pseudomonas  exotoxin A (PE) comprising an amino acid sequence having a substitution of one or more B-cell and/or T-cell epitopes. The invention further provides related chimeric molecules, as well as related nucleic acids, recombinant expression vectors, host cells, populations of cells, and pharmaceutical compositions. Methods of treating or preventing cancer in a mammal, methods of inhibiting the growth of a target cell, methods of producing the PE, and methods of producing the chimeric molecule are further provided by the invention.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This patent application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.15/095,470, filed Apr. 11, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,765,123, which is adivisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/123,971, now U.S. Pat. No.9,346,859, which is the U.S. National Phase of International PatentApplication No. PCT/US2012/041234, filed Jun. 7, 2012, which claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/495,085, filedJun. 9, 2011, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/535,668,filed Sep. 16, 2011, each of which is incorporated by reference in itsentirety herein.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

This invention was made with Government support under project numberBC008753 by the National Institutes of Health, National CancerInstitute. The Government has certain rights in the invention.

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ELECTRONICALLY

Incorporated by reference in its entirety herein is a computer-readablenucleotide/amino acid sequence listing submitted concurrently herewithand identified as follows: one 54,017 Byte ASCII (Text) file named“729021_ST25.TXT,” dated Jun. 13, 2017.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Pseudomonas exotoxin A (PE) is a bacterial toxin with cytotoxic activitythat may be effective for destroying or inhibiting the growth ofundesirable cells, e.g., cancer cells. Accordingly, PE may be useful fortreating or preventing diseases such as, e.g., cancer. However, PE maybe highly immunogenic. Accordingly, PE administration may stimulate ananti-PE immune response including, for example, the production ofanti-PE antibodies and/or T-cells, that undesirably neutralizes thecytotoxic activity of PE. Such immunogenicity may reduce the amount ofPE that can be given to the patient which may, in turn, reduce theeffectiveness of the PE for treating the disease, e.g., cancer. Thus,there is a need for improved PE.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the invention provides a Pseudomonas exotoxin A (PE)comprising an amino acid sequence having a substitution of one or moreof amino acid residues L294, L297, Y298, L299, and R302, with theproviso that when the amino acid sequence comprises a substitution ofalanine for the amino acid residue R302, at least one of amino acidresidues L294, L297, Y298, and L299 is substituted, wherein the aminoacid residues L294, L297, Y298, L299, and R302 are defined by referenceto SEQ ID NO: 1, optionally with a substitution of one or more aminoacid residues within one or more B-cell epitopes of SEQ ID NO: 1 and/ora substitution of one or more amino acid residues within one or more Tcell epitopes within amino acid residues R421, L422, L423, A425, R427,L429, Y439, H440, F443, L444, A446, A447, I450, 463-519, R551, L552,T554, I555, L556, and W558 of SEQ ID NO: 1.

Another embodiment of the invention provides a PE comprising an aminoacid sequence comprising Formula I:FCS-R¹ _(m)—R² _(p)—R³ _(n)-PE functional domain III   (Formula I)

wherein:

m, n, and p are, independently, 0 or 1;

FCS comprises a furin cleavage sequence of amino acid residues, whichsequence is cleavable by furin;

R¹ comprises 1 or more continuous amino acid residues of residues285-293 of SEQ ID NO: 1;

R² comprises X₁VAX₂X₃X₄AAX₅LSW (SEQ ID NO: 2), wherein X₁, X₂, and X₄are independently leucine, alanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine; X₃ istyrosine, alanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine; and X₅ is arginine,alanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine; with the proviso that the PEdoes not comprise LVALYLAARLSW (SEQ ID NO: 3) and that when X₅ isalanine, at least one of X₁, X₂, X₃, and X₄ is alanine, glycine, serine,or glutamine;

R³ comprises 1 or more continuous amino acid residues of residues306-394 of SEQ ID NO: 1; and

PE functional domain III comprises residues 395-613 of SEQ ID NO: 1,

optionally with a substitution of one or more amino acid residues withinone or more B-cell epitopes of SEQ ID NO: 1 and/or a substitution of oneor more amino acid residues within one or more T cell epitopes withinamino acid residues R421, L422, L423, A425, R427, L429, Y439, H440,F443, L444, A446, A447, I450, 463-519, R551, L552, T554, I555, L556, andW558 of SEQ ID NO: 1.

Still another embodiment of the invention provides a PE comprising anamino acid sequence having a substitution of one or more amino acidresidues at positions R421, L422, L423, A425, R427, L429, Y439, H440,F443, L444, A446, A447, I450, 463-519, R551, L552, T554, I555, L556, andW558 of SEQ ID NO: 1; with the proviso that

when the amino acid residue at position Q485 or L516 is substituted withalanine, at least one additional amino acid residue at positions R421,L422, L423, A425, R427, L429, Y439, H440, F443, L444, A446, A447, I450,463-519, R551, L552, T554, I555, L556, and W558 of SEQ ID NO: 1 issubstituted, and

when the amino acid residue at position R427, R467, R490, R505, R513, orR551 is substituted with alanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine or whenthe amino acid residue at position R490 is substituted with valine,leucine, or isoleucine, at least one additional amino acid residue atpositions R421, L422, L423, A425, R427, L429, Y439, H440, F443, L444,A446, A447, I450, 463-519, R551, L552, T554, I555, L556, and W558 of SEQID NO: 1 is substituted which does not include a substitution ofalanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine for an amino acid residue atposition R427, R467, R490, R505, R513, or R551 or a substitution ofvaline, leucine, or isoleucine for an amino acid residue at position490,

wherein the amino acid residues R421, L422, L423, A425, R427, L429,Y439, H440, F443, L444, A446, A447, I450, 463-519, R551, L552, T554,I555, L556, and W558 are defined by reference to SEQ ID NO: 1.

Still another embodiment of the invention provides a Pseudomonasexotoxin A (PE) comprising a PE amino acid sequence having asubstitution of one or more of amino acid residues D463, Y481, and L516as defined by reference to SEQ ID NO: 1, with the proviso that when theamino acid residue at position 516 is substituted with alanine, at leastone of amino acid residues D463 and Y481 is also substituted, whereinthe PE optionally has a further substitution of one or more amino acidresidues within one or more B cell epitopes, and/or a furthersubstitution of one or more amino acid residues within one or moreT-cell epitopes, and/or a deletion of one or more continuous amino acidresidues of residues 1-273 and 285-394 as defined by SEQ ID NO: 1.

Additional embodiments of the invention provide related chimericmolecules, as well as related nucleic acids, recombinant expressionvectors, host cells, populations of cells, and pharmaceuticalcompositions.

Still another embodiment of the invention provides a method of treatingor preventing cancer in a mammal comprising administering to the mammalthe inventive PE, chimeric molecule, nucleic acid, recombinantexpression vector, host cell, population of cells, or pharmaceuticalcomposition, in an amount effective to treat or prevent cancer in themammal.

Another embodiment of the invention provides a method of inhibiting thegrowth of a target cell comprising contacting the cell with theinventive PE, chimeric molecule, nucleic acid, recombinant expressionvector, host cell, population of cells, or pharmaceutical composition,in an amount effective to inhibit growth of the target cell.

Additional embodiments of the invention provide methods of producing theinventive PE and methods of producing the inventive chimeric molecule.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a graph showing the allele frequency (y axis) of various majorhistocompatibility complex class II DR beta 1 (DRB1) alleles (x axis) inthe world population (unshaded bars) and donor cohort (shaded bars).

FIG. 2A is a graph showing the number of spot forming cells (SFC) per1×10⁶ cells (y axis) indicating a response of naïve donor 031810aph Tcells after in vitro expansion and incubation with media (M) (nopeptide), peptide pool 3, peptide pool 16, or peptide pool 22 (x axis)as measured by interleukin (IL)-2 ELISpot.

FIG. 2B is a graph showing the number of SFC per 1×10⁶ cells (y axis)indicating a response of naïve donor 031810aph T cells upon incubationwith no peptide, peptide pool 3, peptide pool 16, or peptide pool 22 (xaxis) without in vitro expansion as measured by IL-2 ELISpot.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the total number of SFC per 1×10⁶ cells (yaxis) by T cells from each of donors 1-50 to no peptide or each ofpeptide pools 1-22 (x axis) after 14 days of in vitro expansion. Thedotted line indicates three times background.

FIG. 4 identifies the specific peptides and regions within the peptides(shaded areas) from peptide pool 3 that stimulate a T cell response atvarious intensities for various donors.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the cytotoxic activity (% control) (y axis)relative to concentration of wild-type HA22 (a disulfide-linked Fvanti-CD22 antibody fragment conjugated to PE38) (circles), L297A HA22(squares), or R302A HA22 (diamonds) (ng/ml) (x axis) on CA46 cells.

FIG. 6A is a graph showing the T cell response for donor 010710 (SFC per1×10⁶ cells) (y axis) upon restimulation with no peptide, wild-typepeptide (WT15), or R302A (y axis) following culture for 14 days withwild-type HA22 (shaded bars) or R302A HA22 (unshaded bars).

FIG. 6B is a graph showing the T cell response for donor 111909 (SFC per1×10⁶ cells) (y axis) upon restimulation with no peptide, wild-typepeptide (WT15), or R302A (y axis) following culture for 14 days withwild-type HA22 (shaded bars) or R302A HA22 (unshaded bars).

FIG. 7A is a graph showing the T cell response for donor 031510 (SFC per1×10⁶ cells) (y axis) upon stimulation with HA22 (containing PE38)(shaded bars) or LR RIT (LR) (containing amino acid residues 274-284 and395-613 of SEQ ID NO: 1) (unshaded bars) and restimulation with one ofpeptide pools 1-22 (x axis). Controls included ceftazidime (CEFT)-growncells, cells with no antigen stimulation on day 0 and no antigenstimulation on day 14 (“M line”), and cells with LMB9 stimulation on day0 and no antigen stimulation on day 14 (“no peptide”).

FIG. 7B is a graph showing the T cell response for donor 021610 (SFC per1×10⁶ cells) (y axis) upon stimulation with HA22 (containing PE38)(shaded bars) or LR RIT (LR) (containing amino acid residues 274-284 and395-613 of SEQ ID NO: 1) (unshaded bars) and restimulation with nopeptide or each of peptide pools 1-22 (x axis). Controls includedceftazidime (CEFT)-grown cells, cells with no antigen stimulation on day0 and no antigen stimulation on day 14 (“M line”), and cells with LMB9stimulation on day 0 and no antigen stimulation on day 14 (“nopeptide”).

FIG. 7C is a graph showing the T cell response for donor 101509 (SFC per1×10⁶ cells) (y axis) upon stimulation with HA22 (containing PE38)(shaded bars) or LR RIT (LR) (containing amino acid residues 274-284 and395-613 of SEQ ID NO: 1) (unshaded bars) and restimulation with nopeptide or each of peptide pools 1-22 (x axis). Controls includedceftazidime (CEFT)-grown cells, cells with no antigen stimulation on day0 and no antigen stimulation on day 14 (“M line”), and cells with LMB9stimulation on day 0 and no antigen stimulation on day 14 (“nopeptide”).

FIG. 8 identifies the specific peptides (shaded areas) of peptides SEQID NOs: 102-109 and 203 that stimulate a T cell response as measured byIL-2 production for various donors.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing the accumulative percentage of the totalresponses per donor for 50 donors for each of SEQ ID NOs: 31-141.

FIG. 10 is a chart showing the reactivity of anti-PE38 (domain III)phage against point-substituted HA22. Black cells represent less than10% reactivity, blank cells represent more than 10% reactivity, and graycells indicate not tested. The substitutions are ordered by theirlocation from the N terminus (left) to the C terminus (right).

FIGS. 11A and 11B are line graphs showing the results of competitionexperiments testing the concentration of each of the substitutedimmunotoxins HA22 (“HA,” closed circles), HA22-LR (“LR,” open circles),HA22-LO5 (“LO5,” closed triangles), HA22-LO6 (“LO6,” open triangles),HA22-LR-8M (“LR8M,” closed squares), and HA22-LO10 (“LO10,” opensquares) that reduced the level of antibodies reacting with HA22 by 50%(dotted line) in the serum of a first (FIG. 11A) and second (FIG. 11B)patient undergoing clinical trials with HA22.

FIG. 12 is a graph showing percent binding of antibodies to HA22,HA22-LR-8M, HA22-LO10 (HA22-LRLO10), or HA22-LRLO10R in the sera ofpatients treated using PE38.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Pseudomonas exotoxin A (“PE”) is a bacterial toxin (molecular weight 66kD) secreted by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The native, wild-type PEsequence (SEQ ID NO: 1) is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,095, whichis incorporated herein by reference. Native, wild-type PE includes threestructural domains that contribute to cytotoxicity. Domain Ia (aminoacids 1-252) mediates cell binding, domain II (amino acids 253-364)mediates translocation into the cytosol, and domain III (amino acids400-613) mediates ADP ribosylation of elongation factor 2. While thestructural boundary of domain III of PE is considered to start atresidue 400, it is contemplated that domain III may require a segment ofdomain Ib to retain ADP-ribosylating activity. Accordingly, functionaldomain III is defined as residues 395-613 of PE. The function of domainIb (amino acids 365-399) remains undefined. Without being bound by aparticular theory or mechanism, it is believed that the cytotoxicactivity of PE occurs through the inhibition of protein synthesis ineukaryotic cells, e.g., by the inactivation of the ADP-ribosylation ofelongation factor 2 (EF-2).

Substitutions of PE are defined herein by reference to the amino acidsequence of PE. Thus, substitutions of PE are described herein byreference to the amino acid residue present at a particular position,followed by the amino acid with which that residue has been replaced inthe particular substitution under discussion. In this regard, thepositions of the amino acid sequence of a particular embodiment of a PEare referred to herein as the positions of the amino acid sequence ofthe particular embodiment or as the positions as defined by SEQ IDNO: 1. When the positions are as defined by SEQ ID NO: 1, then theactual positions of the amino acid sequence of a particular embodimentof a PE are defined relative to the corresponding positions of SEQ IDNO: 1 and may represent different residue position numbers than theresidue position numbers of SEQ ID NO: 1. Thus, for example,substitutions refer to a replacement of an amino acid residue in theamino acid sequence of a particular embodiment of a PE corresponding tothe indicated position of the 613-amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1with the understanding that the actual positions in the respective aminoacid sequences may be different. For example, when the positions are asdefined by SEQ ID NO: 1, the term “R490” refers to the arginine normallypresent at position 490 of SEQ ID NO: 1, “R490A” indicates that thearginine normally present at position 490 of SEQ ID NO: 1 is replaced byan alanine, while “K590Q” indicates that the lysine normally present atposition 590 of SEQ ID NO: 1 has been replaced with a glutamine. In theevent of multiple substitutions at two or more positions, the two ormore substitutions may be the same or different, i.e., each amino acidresidue of the two or more amino acid residues being substituted can besubstituted with the same or different amino acid residue unlessexplicitly indicated otherwise.

The terms “Pseudomonas exotoxin” and “PE” as used herein include PE thathas been modified from the native protein to reduce or to eliminateimmunogenicity. Such modifications may include, but are not limited to,elimination of domain Ia, various amino acid deletions in domains Ib,II, and III, single amino acid substitutions and the addition of one ormore sequences at the carboxyl terminus such as DEL and REDL (SEQ ID NO:7). See Siegall et al., J. Biol. Chem., 264: 14256-14261 (1989). Suchmodified PEs may be further modified to include any of the inventivesubstitution(s) for one or more amino acid residues within one or moreT-cell and/or B-cell epitopes described herein. In an embodiment, themodified PE may be a cytotoxic fragment of native, wild-type PE.Cytotoxic fragments of PE may include those which are cytotoxic with orwithout subsequent proteolytic or other processing in the target cell(e.g., as a protein or pre-protein). In a preferred embodiment, thecytotoxic fragment of PE retains at least about 20%, preferably at leastabout 40%, more preferably about 50%, even more preferably 75%, morepreferably at least about 90%, and still more preferably 95% of thecytotoxicity of native PE. In particularly preferred embodiments, thecytotoxic fragment has at least the cytotoxicity of native PE, andpreferably has increased cytotoxicity as compared to native PE.

Modified PE that reduces or eliminates immunogenicity includes, forexample, PE4E, PE40, PE38, PE25, PE38QQR, PE38KDEL, and PE35. In anembodiment, the PE may be any of PE4E, PE40, PE38, PE25, PE38QQR (inwhich PE38 has the sequence QQR added at the C-terminus), PE38KDEL (inwhich PE38 has the sequence KDEL (SEQ ID NO: 5) added at theC-terminus), PE-LR (resistance to lysosomal degradation), and PE35.

In an embodiment, the PE has been modified to reduce immunogenicity bydeleting domain Ia as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,827, which isincorporated herein by reference. The PE may also be modified bysubstituting certain residues of domain Ia. In an embodiment, the PE maybe PE4E, which is a substituted PE in which domain Ia is present but inwhich the basic residues of domain Ia at positions 57, 246, 247, and 249are replaced with acidic residues (e.g., glutamic acid), as disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 5,512,658, which is incorporated herein by reference.

PE40 is a truncated derivative of PE (Pai et al., Proc. Nat'l Acad. Sci.USA, 88: 3358-62 (1991) and Kondo et al., Biol. Chem., 263: 9470-9475(1988)). PE35 is a 35 kD carboxyl-terminal fragment of PE in which aminoacid residues 1-279 have been deleted and the molecule commences with aMet at position 280 followed by amino acids 281-364 and 381-613 ofnative PE. PE35 and PE40 are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,602,095 and 4,892,827, each of which is incorporated herein byreference. PE25 contains the 11-residue fragment from domain II and allof domain III. In some embodiments, the PE contains only domain III.

In a preferred embodiment, the PE is PE38. PE38 contains thetranslocating and ADP ribosylating domains of PE but not thecell-binding portion (Hwang J. et al., Cell, 48: 129-136 (1987)). PE38is a truncated PE pro-protein composed of amino acids 253-364 and381-613 (SEQ ID NO: 144) which is activated to its cytotoxic form uponprocessing within a cell (see e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,039, which isincorporated herein by reference, and Pastan et al., Biochim. Biophys.Acta, 1333: C1-C6 (1997)).

In another preferred embodiment, the PE is PE-LR. PE-LR contains adeletion of domain II except for a furin cleavage sequence (FCS)corresponding to amino acid residues 274-284 of SEQ ID NO: 1(RHRQPRGWEQL (SEQ ID NO: 8)) and a deletion of amino acid residues365-394 of domain Ib. Thus, PE-LR contains amino acid residues 274-284and 395-613 of SEQ ID NO: 1. PE-LR is described in International PatentApplication Publication WO 2009/032954, which is incorporated herein byreference. The PE-LR may, optionally, additionally comprise a GGSlinking peptide between the FCS and amino acid residues 395-613 of SEQID NO: 1.

As noted above, alternatively or additionally, some or all of domain Ibmay be deleted with the remaining portions joined by a bridge ordirectly by a peptide bond. Alternatively or additionally, some of theamino portion of domain II may be deleted. Alternatively oradditionally, the C-terminal end may contain the native sequence ofresidues 609-613 (REDLK) (SEQ ID NO: 6), or may contain a variation thatmay maintain the ability of the PE to translocate into the cytosol, suchas KDEL (SEQ ID NO: 5) or REDL (SEQ ID NO: 7), and repeats of thesesequences. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,854,044; 5,821,238; and 5,602,095and International Patent Application Publication WO 1999/051643, whichare incorporated herein by reference. Any form of PE in whichimmunogenicity has been eliminated or reduced can be used in combinationwith any of the inventive substitution(s) for one or more amino acidresidues within one or more T-cell and/or B-cell epitopes describedherein so long as it remains capable of cytotoxicity to targeted cells,e.g., by translocation and EF-2 ribosylation in a targeted cell.

An embodiment of the invention provides a Pseudomonas exotoxin A (PE),including any PE modified from the native protein as described herein,comprising an amino acid sequence having a substitution of one or moreof amino acid residues L294, L297, Y298, L299, and R302, with theproviso that when the amino acid sequence comprises a substitution ofalanine for the amino acid residue R302, at least one additional aminoacid residue is substituted, wherein the amino acid residues L294, L297,Y298, L299, and R302 are defined by reference to SEQ ID NO: 1,optionally with a substitution of one or more amino acid residues withinone or more B-cell epitopes of SEQ ID NO: 1 and/or a substitution of oneor more amino acid residues within one or more T cell epitopes withinamino acid residues R421, L422, L423, A425, R427, L429, Y439, H440,F443, L444, A446, A447, I450, 463-519, R551, L552, T554, I555, L556, andW558 of SEQ ID NO: 1. Preferably, the substitution of one or more aminoacid residues within one or more T cell epitopes is a substitution ofone or more amino acid residues at positions R421, L422, L423, A425,R427, L429, Y439, H440, F443, L444, A446, A447, I450, Y470, 1471, A472,P475, A476, L477, I493, R494, N495, L498, L499, R500, V501, Y502, V503,R505, L508, P509, R551, L552, T554, I555, L556, and W558.

Another embodiment of the invention provides a Pseudomonas exotoxin A(PE), including any PE modified from the native protein as describedherein, comprising an amino acid sequence having a substitution of oneor more of amino acid residues L294, L297, Y298, L299, and R302, withthe proviso that when the amino acid sequence comprises a substitutionof alanine for the amino acid residue R302, at least one of amino acidresidues L294, L297, Y298, and L299 is substituted, wherein the aminoacid residues L294, L297, Y298, L299, and R302 are defined by referenceto SEQ ID NO: 1, optionally with a substitution of one or more aminoacid residues within one or more B-cell epitopes of SEQ ID NO: 1 and/ora substitution of one or more amino acid residues within one or more Tcell epitopes within amino acid residues R421, L422, L423, A425, R427,L429, Y439, H440, F443, L444, A446, A447, I450, 463-519, R551, L552,T554, I555, L556, and W558 of SEQ ID NO: 1. It has been discovered thatamino acid residues L294, L297, Y298, L299, and R302 are located withinone or more T-cell epitopes of PE. Thus, a substitution of one or moreof amino acid residues L294, L297, Y298, L299, and R302 may,advantageously, remove one or more T cell epitope(s). Accordingly, theinventive PEs may, advantageously, be less immunogenic than anunsubstituted (e.g., wild-type) PE.

The substitution of one or more of amino acid residues L294, L297, Y298,L299, and R302 may be a substitution of any amino acid residue for oneor more of amino acid residues L294, L297, Y298, L299, and R302. In anembodiment of the invention, the substitution of one or more of aminoacid residues L294, L297, Y298, L299, and R302 is a substitution ofalanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine in place of one or more of aminoacid residues L294, L297, Y298, L299, and R302.

In an embodiment of the invention, the PE comprises X₁VAX₂X₃X₄AAX₅LSW(SEQ ID NO: 2), wherein X₁, X₂, and X₄ are independently leucine,alanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine; X₃ is tyrosine, alanine,glycine, serine, or glutamine; and X₅ is arginine, alanine, glycine,serine, or glutamine; with the proviso that the PE does not compriseLVALYLAARLSW (SEQ ID NO: 3) and that when X₅ is alanine, at least one ofX₁, X₂, X₃, and X₄ is alanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine.

Another embodiment of the invention provides a Pseudomonas exotoxin A(PE) comprising a PE amino acid sequence having a substitution of one ormore of amino acid residues D463, Y481, and L516 as defined by referenceto SEQ ID NO: 1, with the proviso that when the amino acid residue atposition 516 is substituted with alanine, at least one of amino acidresidues D463 and Y481 is substituted, wherein the PE optionally has afurther substitution of one or more amino acid residues within one ormore B cell epitopes and/or a further substitution of one or more aminoacid residues within one or more T-cell epitopes, and/or a deletion ofone or more continuous amino acid residues of residues 1-273 and 285-394as defined by SEQ ID NO: 1. Preferably, the substitution of one or moreof amino acid residues D463, Y481, and L516 is a substitution of,independently, alanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine in place of one ormore of amino acid residues D463, Y481, and L516. It has been discoveredthat amino acid residues D463, Y481, and L516 are located within one ormore B-cell epitopes of PE. Thus, a substitution of one or more of aminoacid residues D463, Y481, and L516 may, advantageously, remove one ormore T-cell and/or B-cell epitope(s). Accordingly, the inventive PEsmay, advantageously, be less immunogenic than an unsubstituted (e.g.,wild-type) PE.

In an embodiment of the invention, the further substitution of an aminoacid within one or more B-cell epitopes is a substitution of one or moreof amino acid residues E282, E285, P290, R313, N314, P319, D324, E327,E331, Q332, D403, D406, R412, R427, E431, R432, R458, D461, R467, R490,R505, R513, E522, R538, E548, R551, R576, Q592, and L597, as defined byreference to SEQ ID NO: 1. Preferably, the further substitution of anamino acid within one or more B-cell epitopes is a substitution of,independently, alanine, glycine, or serine in place of one or more aminoacid residues R427, R458, R467, R490, R505, and R538. In an especiallypreferred embodiment, the substitution of one or more of amino acidresidues D463, Y481, and L516 is a substitution of alanine in place ofamino acid residue D463 and the further substitution of an amino acidwithin one or more B-cell epitopes is: (a) a substitution of alanine foramino acid residue R427; (b) a substitution of alanine for amino acidresidue R458; (c) a substitution of alanine for amino acid residue R467;(d) a substitution of alanine for amino acid residue R490; (e) asubstitution of alanine for amino acid residue R505; and (f) asubstitution of alanine for amino acid residue R538, as defined byreference to SEQ ID NO: 1.

In addition to the substitution(s) for one or more amino acid residueswithin one or more PE T-cell and/or B-cell epitopes described herein,the inventive PE may, optionally, also include additionalsubstitution(s) for one or more amino acid residues within one or moreB-cell epitopes of SEQ ID NO: 1. In this regard, in an embodiment of theinvention, the PE has a substitution of one or more amino acids withinone or more B-cell epitopes of SEQ ID NO: 1. In a preferred embodimentof the invention, the substitution of one or more amino acid within oneor more B-cell epitopes of SEQ ID NO: 1 includes a substitution ofalanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine for one or more amino acidswithin one or more B-cell epitopes of SEQ ID NO: 1. The substitution(s)within one or more B-cell epitopes may, advantageously, further reduceimmunogenicity by the removal of one or more B-cell epitopes. Thesubstitution(s) may be located within any suitable PE B-cell epitope.Exemplary B-cell epitopes are disclosed in, for example, InternationalPatent Application Publications WO 2007/016150, WO 2009/032954, and WO2011/032022, each of which is incorporated herein by reference. In apreferred embodiment, the substitution of one or more amino acids withinone or more B-cell epitopes of SEQ ID NO: 1 is a substitution ofalanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine, independently, in place of oneor more of amino acid residues E282, E285, P290, R313, N314, P319, D324,E327, E331, Q332, D403, D406, R412, R427, E431, R432, R458, D461, D463,R467, Y481, R490, R505, R513, L516, E522, R538, E548, R551, R576, K590,Q592, and L597, wherein the amino acid residues E282, E285, P290, R313,N314, P319, D324, E327, E331, Q332, D403, D406, R412, R427, E431, R432,R458, D461, D463, R467, Y481, R490, R505, R513, L516, E522, R538, E548,R551, R576, K590, Q592, and L597 are defined by reference to SEQ IDNO: 1. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the substitution of anamino acid within one or more B-cell epitopes of SEQ ID NO: 1 is asubstitution of alanine, glycine, or serine in place of one or moreamino acid residues D406, R432, R467, R490, R513, E548, K590, and Q592.In an especially preferred embodiment, the substitution of an amino acidwithin one or more B-cell epitopes of SEQ ID NO: 1 is: (a) asubstitution of alanine for amino acid residue D406; (b) a substitutionof glycine for amino acid residue R432; (c) a substitution of alaninefor amino acid residue R467; (d) a substitution of alanine for aminoacid residue R490; (e) a substitution of alanine for amino acid residueR513; (f) a substitution of serine for amino acid residue E548; (g) asubstitution of serine for amino acid residue K590; and (h) asubstitution of alanine for amino acid residue Q592.

In an embodiment of the invention, the PE comprises an amino acidsequence having a substitution of one or more amino acid residues atpositions R421, L422, L423, A425, R427, L429, Y439, H440, F443, L444,A446, A447, I450, 463-519, R551, L552, T554, 555, L556, and W558 of SEQID NO: 1 alone or in combination with any of the other substitutionsdescribed herein. In an embodiment of the invention, the substitution ofone or more amino acid residues at positions R421, L422, L423, A425,R427, L429, Y439, H440, F443, L444, A446, A447, I450, 463-519, R551,L552, T554, I555, L556, and W558 of SEQ ID NO: 1 is a substitution ofone or more amino acid residues at positions R421, L422, L423, A425,R427, L429, Y439, H440, F443, L444, A446, A447, I450, Y470, I471, A472,P475, A476, L477, 1493, R494, N495, L498, L499, R500, V501, Y502, V503,R505, L508, P509, R551, L552, T554, I555, L556, and W558.

The substitution of one or more amino acid residues at positions R421,L422, L423, A425, R427, L429, Y439, H440, F443, L444, A446, A447, I450,463-519, R551, L552, T554, I555, L556, and W558 of SEQ ID NO: 1 may be asubstitution of any amino acid residue in place of an amino acid residueat any one or more of positions R421, L422, L423, A425, R427, L429,Y439, H440, F443, L444, A446, A447, I450, 463-519, R551, L552, T554,I555, L556, and W558 of SEQ ID NO:1. The substitution of one or moreamino acid residues at positions R421, L422, L423, A425, R427, L429,Y439, H440, F443, L444, A446, A447, I450, 463-519, R551, L552, T554,I555, L556, and W558 of SEQ ID NO: 1 may include, e.g., a substitutionof alanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine in place of one or more aminoacid residues at position 421, 422, 423, 425, 427, 429, 439, 440, 443,444, 446, 447, 450, 463, 464, 465, 466, 467, 468, 469, 470, 471, 472,473, 474, 475, 476, 477, 478, 479, 480, 481, 482, 483, 484, 485, 486,487, 488, 489, 490, 491, 492, 493, 494, 495, 496, 497, 498, 499, 500,501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, 507, 508, 509, 510, 511, 512, 513, 514,515, 516, 517, 518, 519, 551, 552, 554, 555, 556, and 558 of SEQ IDNO: 1. In a preferred embodiment, the substitution of one or more aminoacid residues at positions R421, L422, L423, A425, R427, L429, Y439,H440, F443, L444, A446, A447, I450, 463-519, R551, L552, T554, I555,L556, and W558 of SEQ ID NO: 1 is a substitution of alanine, glycine,serine, or glutamine in place of one or more of amino acid residuesR421, L422, L423, A425, R427, L429, Y439, H440, F443, L444, A446, A447,I450, Y470, 1471, A472, P475, A476, L477, 1493, R494, N495, L498, L499,R500, V501, Y502, V503, R505, L508, P509, R551, L552, T554, I555, L556,and W558. One or more substitutions in one or more T cell epitopeslocated at positions R421, L422, L423, A425, R427, L429, Y439, H440,F443, L444, A446, A447, I450, 463-519, R551, L552, T554, I555, L556, andW558 of PE as defined by reference to SEQ ID NO: 1 may further reduceimmunogenicity of PE. In an embodiment, the amino acid sequence does nothave a substitution of one or more amino acid residues at positions 427,467, 485, 490, 505, 513, 516, and 551.

In another embodiment of the invention, the PE comprises an amino acidsequence having a substitution of one or more amino acid residues atpositions R421, L422, L423, A425, R427, L429, Y439, H440, F443, L444,A446, A447, I450, 463-519, R551, L552, T554, I555, L556, and W558 of SEQID NO: 1; with the proviso that when the amino acid residue at positionQ485 or L516 is substituted with alanine, at least one additional aminoacid residue is substituted, and when the amino acid residue at positionR427, R467, R490, R505, R513, or R551 is substituted with alanine,glycine, serine, or glutamine or when the amino acid residue at positionR490 is substituted with valine, leucine, or isoleucine, at least oneadditional amino acid residue is substituted which does not include asubstitution of alanine, glycine, seine, or glutamine for an amino acidresidue at position 282, 285, 290, 313, 314, 319, 324, 327, 331, 332,403, 406, 412, 427, 431, 432, 458, 461, 467, 490, 505, 513, 522, 538,548, 551, 576, 590, 592, or 597 or a substitution of valine, leucine, orisoleucine for an amino acid residue at position 490, wherein the aminoacid residues 282, 285, 290, 302, 313, 314, 319, 324, 327, 331, 332,403, 406, 412, 427, 431, 432, 458, 461, 463-519, 522, 538, 548, 551,576, 590, 592, and 597 are defined by reference to SEQ ID NO: 1.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, the PE comprises an aminoacid sequence having a substitution of one or more amino acid residuesat positions R421, L422, L423, A425, R427, L429, Y439, H440, F443, L444,A446, A447, I450, 463-519, R551, L552, T554, I555, L556, and W558 of SEQID NO: 1; with the proviso that when the amino acid residue at positionQ485 or L516 is substituted with alanine, at least one additional aminoacid residue at positions R421, L422, L423, A425, R427, L429, Y439,H440, F443, L444, A446, A447, I450, 463-519, R551, L552, T554, I555,L556, and W558 of SEQ ID NO: 1 is substituted, and when the amino acidresidue at position R427, R467, R490, R505, R513, or R551 is substitutedwith alanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine or when the amino acidresidue at position R490 is substituted with valine, leucine, orisoleucine, at least one additional amino acid residue at positionsR421, L422, L423, A425, R427, L429, Y439, H440, F443, L444, A446, A447,I450, 463-519, R551, L552, T554, I555, L556, and W558 of SEQ ID NO: 1 issubstituted which does not include a substitution of alanine, glycine,serine, or glutamine for an amino acid residue at position R427, R467,R490, R505, R513, R551 or a substitution of valine, leucine, orisoleucine for an amino acid residue at position R490, wherein the aminoacid residues R421, L422, L423, A425, R427, L429, Y439, H440, F443,L444, A446, A447, I450, 463-519, R551, L552, T554, I555, L556, and W558are defined by reference to SEQ ID NO: 1.

Preferably, the PE comprises one or more substitutions that increasecytoxicity as disclosed, for example, in International PatentApplication Publication WO 2007/016150, which is incorporated herein byreference. In this regard, an embodiment of the invention provides PEwith a substitution of an amino acid within one or more B-cell epitopesof SEQ ID NO: 1 and the substitution of an amino acid within one or moreB-cell epitopes of SEQ ID NO: 1 is a substitution of valine, leucine, orisoleucine in place of amino acid residue R490, wherein the amino acidresidue R490 is defined by reference to SEQ ID NO: 1. In an embodimentof the invention, substitution of one or more amino acid residues atpositions 313, 327, 331, 332, 431, 432, 505, 516, 538, and 590 definedby reference to SEQ ID NO: 1 with alanine or glutamine may provide a PEwith an increased cytotoxicity as disclosed, for example, inInternational Patent Application Publication WO 2007/016150, which isincorporated herein by reference. Increased cytotoxic activity anddecreased immunogenicity can occur simultaneously, and are not mutuallyexclusive. Substitutions that both increase cytotoxic activity anddecrease immunogenicity, such as substitutions of R490 to glycine or,more preferably, alanine, are especially preferred.

In an embodiment of the invention, the PE comprises an amino acidsequence comprising Formula I:FCS-R¹ _(m)R² _(p)—R³ _(n)-PE functional domain III   (Formula I)

wherein:

-   -   m, n, and p are, independently, 0 or 1;    -   FCS comprises a furin cleavage sequence of amino acid residues,        which sequence is cleavable by furin;    -   R¹ comprises 1 or more continuous amino acid residues of        residues 285-293 of SEQ ID NO: 1;    -   R² comprises X₁VAX₂X₃X₄AAX₅LSW (SEQ ID NO: 2), wherein X₁, X₂,        and X₄ are independently leucine, alanine, glycine, serine, or        glutamine; X₃ is tyrosine, alanine, glycine, serine, or        glutamine; and X₅ is arginine, alanine, glycine, serine, or        glutamine; with the proviso that the PE does not comprise        LVALYLAARLSW (SEQ ID NO: 3) and that when X₅ is alanine, at        least one of X₁, X₂, X₃, and X₄ is alanine, glycine, serine, or        glutamine;    -   R³ comprises 1 or more continuous amino acid residues of        residues 306-394 of SEQ ID NO: 1; and    -   PE functional domain III comprises residues 395-613 of SEQ ID        NO: 1 optionally with a substitution of one or more amino acid        residues within one or more B-cell epitopes of SEQ ID NO: 1        and/or a substitution of one or more amino acid residues within        one or more T cell epitopes within amino acid residues R421,        L422, L423, A425, R427, L429, Y439, H440, F443, L444, A446,        A447, I450, 463-519, R551, L552, T554, I555, L556, and W558 of        SEQ ID NO: 1. In an embodiment, the substitution of one or more        amino acid residues R421, L422, L423, A425, R427, L429, Y439,        H440, F443, L444, A446, A447, I450, 463-519, R551, L552, T554,        I555, L556, and W558 of SEQ ID NO: 1 is a substitution of one or        more amino acid residues R421, L422, L423, A425, R427, L429,        Y439, H440, F443, L444, A446, A447, I450, Y470, 1471, A472,        P475, A476, L477, 1493, R494, N495, L498, L499, R500, V501,        Y502, V503, R505, L508, P509, R551, L552, T554, I555, L556, and        W558.

In an embodiment of the invention, m, n, and/or p of Formula I are 0. Inan embodiment of the invention, when m, n, and p are each 0, the PE ofFormula I may further comprise a GGS linking peptide between FCS and PEfunctional domain III.

Without being bound by a particular theory or mechanism, it is believedthat PEs containing the furin cleavage sequence (FCS) undergoproteolytic processing inside target cells, thereby activating thecytotoxic activity of the toxin. The FCS of the inventive PEs maycomprise any suitable furin cleavage sequence of amino acid residues,which sequence is cleavable by furin. Exemplary furin cleavage sequencesare described in Duckert et al., Protein Engineering, Design &Selection, 17 (1): 107-112 (2004) and International Patent ApplicationPublication WO 2009/032954, each of which is incorporated herein byreference. In an embodiment of the invention, FCS comprises residues274-284 of SEQ ID NO: 1 (i.e., RHRQPRGWEQL (SEQ ID NO: 8)), wherein thesubstitution of an amino acid within one or more B-cell epitopes of SEQID NO: 1 is a substitution of alanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine foramino acid residue E282 of SEQ ID NO: 1. Other suitable FCS amino acidsequences include, but are not limited to: R—X₁—X₂—R, wherein X₁ is anynaturally occurring amino acid and X₂ is any naturally occurring aminoacid (SEQ ID NO: 9), RKKR (SEQ ID NO: 10), RRRR (SEQ ID NO: 11), RKAR(SEQ ID NO: 12), SRVARS (SEQ ID NO: 13), TSSRKRRFW (SEQ ID NO: 14),ASRRKARSW (SEQ ID NO: 15), RRVKKRFW (SEQ ID NO: 16), RNVVRRDW (SEQ IDNO: 17), TRAVRRRSW (SEQ ID NO: 18), RQPR (SEQ ID NO: 19), RHRQPRGW (SEQID NO: 20), RHRQPRGWE (SEQ ID NO: 21), HRQPRGWEQ (SEQ ID NO: 22),RQPRGWE (SEQ ID NO: 23), RHRSKRGWEQL (SEQ ID NO: 24), RSKR (SEQ ID NO:25), RHRSKRGW (SEQ ID NO: 26), HRSKRGWE (SEQ ID NO: 27), RSKRGWEQL (SEQID NO: 28), HRSKRGWEQL (SEQ ID NO: 29), RHRSKR (SEQ ID NO: 30), andR—X₁—X₂—R, wherein X₁ is any naturally occurring amino acid and X₂ isarginine or lysine (SEQ ID NO: 4).

In an embodiment of the invention, m of Formula I is 1 and R¹ of FormulaI comprises residues 285-293 of SEQ ID NO: 1, wherein the substitutionof an amino acid within one or more B-cell epitopes of SEQ ID NO: 1includes a substitution of alanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine foramino acid residue E285 and/or P290 of SEQ ID NO: 1.

In another embodiment of the invention, n of Formula I is 1 and R³ ofFormula I comprises residues 306-394 of SEQ ID NO: 1, wherein thesubstitution of an amino acid within one or more B-cell epitopes of SEQID NO: 1 includes a substitution of alanine, glycine, serine, orglutamine for one or more of amino acid residues R313, N314, P319, D324,E327, E331, and Q332 of SEQ ID NO: 1.

In still another embodiment of the invention, PE functional domain IIIcomprises residues 395-613 of SEQ ID NO: 1, wherein the substitution ofan amino acid within one or more B-cell epitopes of SEQ ID NO: 1includes a substitution of alanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine forone or more of amino acid residues D403, D406, R412, R427, E431, R432,R458, D461, D463, R467, Y481, R490, R505, R513, L516, E522, R538, E548,R551, R576, K590, Q592, and L597 of SEQ ID NO: 1. In a preferredembodiment of the invention, PE functional domain III comprises SEQ IDNO: 142. In an especially preferred embodiment of the invention, PEfunctional domain III comprises SEQ ID NO: 143.

The inventive PE may be less immunogenic than an unsubstituted PE inaccordance with the invention if the immune response to the inventive PEis diminished, quantitatively or qualitatively, as compared to theimmune response to an unsubstituted PE. A quantitative decrease inimmunogenicity encompasses a decrease in the magnitude or degree of theimmune response. The magnitude or degree of immunogenicity can bemeasured on the basis of any number of known parameters, such as adecrease in the level of cytokine (e.g., antigen-specific cytokine)production (cytokine concentration), a decrease in the number oflymphocytes activated (e.g., proliferation of lymphocytes (e.g.,antigen-specific lymphocytes)) or recruited, and/or a decrease in theproduction of antibodies (antigen-specific antibodies), etc. Aqualitative decrease in immunogenicity encompasses any change in thenature of the immune response that renders the immune response lesseffective at mediating the reduction of the cytotoxic activity of thePE. Methods of measuring immunogenicity are known in the art. Forexample, measuring the types and levels of cytokines produced canmeasure immunogenicity. Alternatively or additionally, measuring thebinding of PE to antibodies (e.g., antibodies previously exposed to PE)and/or measuring the ability of the PE to induce antibodies whenadministered to a mammal (e.g., humans, mice, and/or mice in which themouse immune system is replaced with a human immune system) can measureimmunogenicity. A less immunogenic PE may be characterized by a decreasein the production of cytokines such as any one or more of IFN-γ, TNF-α,and granzyme B, and/or a reduced stimulation of a cell-mediated immuneresponse, such as a decrease in the proliferation and activation ofT-cells and/or macrophages specific for PE as compared to that obtainedwith an unsubstituted PE. Alternatively or additionally, lessimmunogenic PE may be characterized by an increase in the production ofTGF-beta and/or IL-10 as compared to that obtained with an unsubstitutedPE. In a preferred embodiment, reduced immunogenicity is characterizedby any one or more of a decrease in T cell stimulation, a decrease in Tcell proliferation, and a decrease in T cell IFNγ and/or granzyme Bsecretion. Alternatively or additionally, a less immunogenic PE may becharacterized by a decrease in the stimulation and/or activation ofB-cells specific for PE as compared to that obtained with anunsubstituted PE. For example, less immunogenic PE may be characterizedby a decrease in the differentiation of B cells into antibody-secretingplasma cells and/or memory cells as compared to that obtained with anunsubstituted PE. Reduced immunogenicity may be characterized by any oneor more of a decrease in B cell stimulation, a decrease in B cellproliferation, and a decrease in anti-PE antibody secretion. Qualitativeand quantitative diminishment of immunogenicity can occur simultaneouslyand are not mutually exclusive.

One of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that theinventive PEs can be modified in any number of ways, such that thetherapeutic or prophylactic efficacy of the inventive PEs is increasedthrough the modification. For instance, the inventive PEs can beconjugated or fused either directly or indirectly through a linker to atargeting moiety. In this regard, an embodiment of the inventionprovides a chimeric molecule comprising (a) a targeting moietyconjugated or fused to (b) any of the inventive PEs described herein.The practice of conjugating compounds, e.g., inventive PEs, to targetingmoieties is known in the art. See, for instance, Wadwa et al., J. DrugTargeting, 3: 111 (1995), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,087,616.

The term “targeting moiety” as used herein, refers to any molecule oragent that specifically recognizes and binds to a cell-surface marker,such that the targeting moiety directs the delivery of the inventive PEto a population of cells on which surface the receptor is expressed.Targeting moieties include, but are not limited to, antibodies (e.g.,monoclonal antibodies), or fragments thereof, peptides, hormones, growthfactors, cytokines, and any other natural or non-natural ligands.

The term “antibody,” as used herein, refers to whole (also known as“intact”) antibodies or antigen binding portions thereof that retainantigen recognition and binding capability. The antibody or antigenbinding portions thereof can be a naturally-occurring antibody orantigen binding portion thereof, e.g., an antibody or antigen bindingportion thereof isolated and/or purified from a mammal, e.g., mouse,rabbit, goat, horse, chicken, hamster, human, etc. The antibody orantigen binding portion thereof can be in monomeric or polymeric form.Also, the antibody or antigen binding portion thereof can have any levelof affinity or avidity for the cell surface marker. Desirably, theantibody or antigen binding portion thereof is specific for the cellsurface marker, such that there is minimal cross-reaction with otherpeptides or proteins.

The antibody may be monoclonal or polyclonal and of any isotype, e.g.,IgM, IgG (e.g. IgG, IgG2, IgG3 or IgG4), IgD, IgA or IgE.Complementarity determining regions (CDRs) of an antibody or singlechain variable fragments (Fvs) of an antibody against a target cellsurface marker can be grafted or engineered into an antibody of choiceto confer specificity for the target cell surface marker upon thatantibody. For example, the CDRs of an antibody against a target cellsurface marker can be grafted onto a human antibody framework of a knownthree dimensional structure (see, e.g., International Patent ApplicationPublications WO 1998/045322 and WO 1987/002671; U.S. Pat. Nos.5,859,205; 5,585,089; and 4,816,567; European Patent ApplicationPublication 0173494; Jones et al., Nature, 321: 522 (1986); Verhoeyen etal., Science, 239: 1534 (1988), Riechmann et al., Nature, 332: 323(1988); and Winter & Milstein, Nature, 349: 293 (1991)) to form anantibody that may raise little or no immunogenic response whenadministered to a human. In a preferred embodiment, the targeting moietyis a monoclonal antibody.

The antigen binding portion can be any portion that has at least oneantigen binding site, such as, e.g., the variable regions or CDRs of theintact antibody. Examples of antigen binding portions of antibodiesinclude, but are not limited to, a heavy chain, a light chain, avariable or constant region of a heavy or light chain, a single chainvariable fragment (scFv), or an Fc, Fab, Fab′, Fv, or F(ab)₂′ fragment;single domain antibodies (see, e.g., Wesolowski, Med Microbiol Immunol.,198 (3): 157-74 (2009); Saerens et al., Curr. Opin. Pharmacol., 8 (5):600-8 (2008); Harmsen and de Haard, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 77 (1):13-22 (2007), helix-stabilized antibodies (see, e.g., Arndt et al., J.Mol. Biol., 312: 221-228 (2001); triabodies; diabodies (European PatentApplication Publication 0404097; International Patent ApplicationPublication WO 1993/011161; and Hollinger et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.USA, 90: 6444-6448 (1993)); single-chain antibody molecules (“scFvs,”see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,888,773); disulfide stabilized antibodies(“dsFvs,” see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,747,654 and 6,558,672), and domainantibodies (“dAbs,” see, e.g., Holt et al., Trends Biotech, 21(11):484-490 (2003), Ghahroudi et al., FEBS Lett., 414:521-526 (1997),Lauwereys et al., EMBO J 17:3512-3520 (1998), Reiter et al., J. Mol.Biol. 290:685-698 (1999); and Davies and Riechmann, Biotechnology,13:475-479 (2001)).

Methods of testing antibodies or antigen binding portions thereof forthe ability to bind to any cell surface marker are known in the art andinclude any antibody-antigen binding assay, such as, for example,radioimmunoassay (RIA), ELISA, Western blot, immunoprecipitation, andcompetitive inhibition assays (see, e.g., Janeway et al., infra, andU.S. Patent Application Publication 2002/0197266 A1).

Suitable methods of making antibodies are known in the art. Forinstance, standard hybridoma methods are described in, e.g., Köhler andMilstein, Eur. J. Immunol., 5, 511-519 (1976), Harlow and Lane (eds.),Antibodies: A Laboratory Manual, CSH Press (1988), and C. A. Janeway etal. (eds.), Immunobiology, 5^(th) Ed., Garland Publishing, New York,N.Y. (2001)). Alternatively, other methods, such as EBV-hybridomamethods (Haskard and Archer, J. Immunol. Methods, 74 (2), 361-67 (1984),and Roder et al., Methods Enzymol., 121, 140-67 (1986)), andbacteriophage vector expression systems (see, e.g., Huse et al.,Science, 246, 1275-81 (1989)) are known in the art. Further, methods ofproducing antibodies in non-human animals are described in, e.g., U.S.Pat. Nos. 5,545,806, 5,569,825, and 5,714,352, and U.S. PatentApplication Publication 2002/0197266 A1.

Phage display also can be used to generate the antibody that may be usedin the chimeric molecules of the invention. In this regard, phagelibraries encoding antigen-binding variable (V) domains of antibodiescan be generated using standard molecular biology and recombinant DNAtechniques (see, e.g., Sambrook et al. (eds.), Molecular Cloning, ALaboratory Manual, 3^(rd) Edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press,New York (2001)). Phage encoding a variable region with the desiredspecificity are selected for specific binding to the desired antigen,and a complete or partial antibody is reconstituted comprising theselected variable domain. Nucleic acid sequences encoding thereconstituted antibody are introduced into a suitable cell line, such asa myeloma cell used for hybridoma production, such that antibodieshaving the characteristics of monoclonal antibodies are secreted by thecell (see, e.g., Janeway et al., supra, Huse et al., supra, and U.S.Pat. No. 6,265,150).

Alternatively, antibodies can be produced by transgenic mice that aretransgenic for specific heavy and light chain immunoglobulin genes. Suchmethods are known in the art and described in, for example U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,545,806 and 5,569,825, and Janeway et al., supra.

Alternatively, the antibody can be a genetically-engineered antibody,e.g., a humanized antibody or a chimeric antibody. Humanized antibodiesadvantageously provide a lower risk of side effects and can remain inthe circulation longer. Methods for generating humanized antibodies areknown in the art and are described in detail in, for example, Janeway etal., supra, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,225,539, 5,585,089 and 5,693,761, EuropeanPatent 0239400 B1, and United Kingdom Pat. No. 2188638. Humanizedantibodies can also be generated using the antibody resurfacingtechnology described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,641 andPedersen et al., J. Mol. Biol., 235, 959-973 (1994).

The targeting moiety may specifically bind to any suitable cell surfacemarker. The choice of a particular targeting moiety and/or cell surfacemarker may be chosen depending on the particular cell population to betargeted. Cell surface markers are known in the art (see, e.g., Mufsonet al., Front. Biosci., 11:337-43 (2006); Frankel et al., Clin. CancerRes., 6:326-334 (2000); and Kreitman et al., AAPS Journal, 8 (3):E532-E551 (2006)) and may be, for example, a protein or a carbohydrate.In an embodiment of the invention, the targeting moiety is a ligand thatspecifically binds to a receptor on a cell surface. Exemplary ligandsinclude, but are not limited to, vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF), Fas, TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), a cytokine(e.g., IL-2, IL-15, IL-4, IL-13), a lymphokine, a hormone, and a growthfactor (e.g., transforming growth factor (TGFa), neuronal growth factor,epidermal growth factor).

The cell surface marker can be, for example, a cancer antigen. The term“cancer antigen” as used herein refers to any molecule (e.g., protein,peptide, lipid, carbohydrate, etc.) solely or predominantly expressed orover-expressed by a tumor cell or cancer cell, such that the antigen isassociated with the tumor or cancer. The cancer antigen can additionallybe expressed by normal, non-tumor, or non-cancerous cells. However, insuch cases, the expression of the cancer antigen by normal, non-tumor,or non-cancerous cells is not as robust as the expression by tumor orcancer cells. In this regard, the tumor or cancer cells can over-expressthe antigen or express the antigen at a significantly higher level, ascompared to the expression of the antigen by normal, non-tumor, ornon-cancerous cells. Also, the cancer antigen can additionally beexpressed by cells of a different state of development or maturation.For instance, the cancer antigen can be additionally expressed by cellsof the embryonic or fetal stage, which cells are not normally found inan adult host. Alternatively, the cancer antigen can be additionallyexpressed by stem cells or precursor cells, which cells are not normallyfound in an adult host.

The cancer antigen can be an antigen expressed by any cell of any canceror tumor, including the cancers and tumors described herein. The cancerantigen may be a cancer antigen of only one type of cancer or tumor,such that the cancer antigen is associated with or characteristic ofonly one type of cancer or tumor. Alternatively, the cancer antigen maybe a cancer antigen (e.g., may be characteristic) of more than one typeof cancer or tumor. For example, the cancer antigen may be expressed byboth breast and prostate cancer cells and not expressed at all bynormal, non-tumor, or non-cancer cells.

Exemplary cancer antigens to which the targeting moiety may specificallybind include, but are not limited to mucin 1 (MUC1), melanoma associatedantigen (MAGE), preferentially expressed antigen of melanoma (PRAME),carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), prostate-specific antigen (PSA),prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA), granulocyte-macrophagecolony-stimulating factor receptor (GM-CSFR), CD56, human epidermalgrowth factor receptor 2 (HER2/neu) (also known as erbB-2), CD5, CD7,tyrosinase tumor antigen, tyrosinase related protein (TRP)1, TRP2,NY-ESO-1, telomerase, and p53. In a preferred embodiment, the cellsurface marker, to which the targeting moiety specifically binds, isselected from the group consisting of cluster of differentiation (CD)19, CD21, CD22, CD25, CD30, CD33, CD79b, transferrin receptor, EGFreceptor, mesothelin, cadherin, and Lewis Y. Mesothelin is expressed in,e.g., ovarian cancer, mesothelioma, non-small cell lung cancer, lungadenocarcinoma, fallopian tube cancer, head and neck cancer, cervicalcancer, and pancreatic cancer. CD22 is expressed in, e.g., hairy cellleukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), prolymphocytic leukemia(PLL), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), andacute lymphatic leukemia (ALL). CD25 is expressed in, e.g., leukemiasand lymphomas, including hairy cell leukemia and Hodgkin's lymphoma.Lewis Y antigen is expressed in, e.g., bladder cancer, breast cancer,ovarian cancer, colorectal cancer, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer,lung cancer, and pancreatic cancer. CD33 is expressed in, e.g., acutemyeloid leukemia (AML), chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CML), andmyeloproliferative disorders.

In an embodiment of the invention, the targeting moiety is an antibodythat specifically binds to a cancer antigen. Exemplary antibodies thatspecifically bind to cancer antigens include, but are not limited to,antibodies against the transferrin receptor (e.g., HB21 and variantsthereof), antibodies against CD22 (e.g., RFB4 and variants thereof),antibodies against CD25 (e.g., anti-Tac and variants thereof),antibodies against mesothelin (e.g., SS1, MORAb-009, SS, HN1, HN2, MN,MB, and variants thereof) and antibodies against Lewis Y antigen (e.g.,B3 and variants thereof). In this regard, the targeting moiety may be anantibody selected from the group consisting of B3, RFB4, SS, SS1, MN,MB, HN1, HN2, HB21, and MORAb-009, and antigen binding portions thereof.Further exemplary targeting moieties suitable for use in the inventivechimeric molecules are disclosed e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,824(anti-transferrin receptor); U.S. Pat. No. 5,846,535 (anti-CD25); U.S.Pat. No. 5,889,157 (anti-Lewis Y); U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,726 (anti-LewisY); U.S. Pat. No. 5,990,296 (anti-Lewis Y); U.S. Pat. No. 7,081,518(anti-mesothelin); U.S. Pat. No. 7,355,012 (anti-CD22 and anti-CD25);U.S. Pat. No. 7,368,110 (anti-mesothelin); U.S. Pat. No. 7,470,775(anti-CD30); U.S. Pat. No. 7,521,054 (anti-CD25); and U.S. Pat. No.7,541,034 (anti-CD22); U.S. Patent Application Publication 2007/0189962(anti-CD22); Frankel et al., Clin. Cancer Res., 6: 326-334 (2000), andKreitman et al., AAPS Journal, 8 (3): E532-E551 (2006), each of which isincorporated herein by reference. In another embodiment, the targetingmoiety may include the targeting moiety of immunotoxins known in theart. Exemplary immunotoxins include, but are not limited to, LMB-2(Anti-Tac(Fv)-PE38), BL22 and HA22 (RFB4(dsFv)-PE38), SS1P (SS 1(dsFv)-PE38), HB21-PE40, and variants thereof. In a preferredembodiment, the targeting moiety is the antigen binding portion of HA22.HA22 comprises a disulfide-linked Fv anti-CD22 antibody fragmentconjugated to PE38. HA22 and variants thereof are disclosed inInternational Patent Application Publications WO 2003/027135 and WO2009/032954, which are incorporated herein by reference.

In an embodiment of the invention, the chimeric molecule comprises alinker. The term “linker” as used herein, refers to any agent ormolecule that connects the inventive PE to the targeting moiety. One ofordinary skill in the art recognizes that sites on the inventive PE,which are not necessary for the function of the inventive PE, are idealsites for attaching a linker and/or a targeting moiety, provided thatthe linker and/or targeting moiety, once attached to the inventive PE,do(es) not interfere with the function of the inventive PE, i.e.,cytotoxic activity, inhibit growth of a target cell, or to treat orprevent cancer. The linker may be capable of forming covalent bonds toboth the PE and the targeting moiety. Suitable linkers are known in theart and include, but are not limited to, straight or branched-chaincarbon linkers, heterocyclic carbon linkers, and peptide linkers. Wherethe PE and the targeting moiety are polypeptides, the linker may bejoined to the amino acids through side groups (e.g., through a disulfidelinkage to cysteine). Preferably, the linkers will be joined to thealpha carbon of the amino and carboxyl groups of the terminal aminoacids.

Included in the scope of the invention are functional portions of theinventive PEs and chimeric molecules described herein. The term“functional portion” when used in reference to a PE or chimeric moleculerefers to any part or fragment of the PE or chimeric molecule of theinvention, which part or fragment retains the biological activity of thePE or chimeric molecule of which it is a part (the parent PE or chimericmolecule). Functional portions encompass, for example, those parts of aPE or chimeric molecule that retain the ability to specifically bind toand destroy or inhibit the growth of target cells or treat or preventcancer, to a similar extent, the same extent, or to a higher extent, asthe parent PE or chimeric molecule. In reference to the parent PE orchimeric molecule, the functional portion can comprise, for instance,about 10% or more, about 25% or more, about 30% or more, about 50% ormore, about 68% or more, about 80% or more, about 90% or more, or about95% or more, of the parent PE or chimeric molecule.

The functional portion can comprise additional amino acids at the aminoor carboxy terminus of the portion, or at both termini, which additionalamino acids are not found in the amino acid sequence of the parent PE orchimeric molecule. Desirably, the additional amino acids do notinterfere with the biological function of the functional portion, e.g.,specifically binding to and destroying or inhibiting the growth oftarget cells, having the ability to treat or prevent cancer, etc. Moredesirably, the additional amino acids enhance the biological activity,as compared to the biological activity of the parent PE or chimericmolecule.

Included in the scope of the invention are functional variants of theinventive PEs and chimeric molecules described herein. The term“functional variant” as used herein refers to a PE or chimeric moleculehaving substantial or significant sequence identity or similarity to aparent PE or chimeric molecule, which functional variant retains thebiological activity of the PE or chimeric molecule of which it is avariant. Functional variants encompass, for example, those variants ofthe PE or chimeric molecule described herein (the parent PE or chimericmolecule) that retain the ability to specifically bind to and destroy orinhibit the growth of target cells to a similar extent, the same extent,or to a higher extent, as the parent PE or chimeric molecule. Inreference to the parent PE or chimeric molecule, the functional variantcan, for instance, be about 30% or more, about 50% or more, about 75% ormore, about 80% or more, about 90% or more, about 95% or more, about 96%or more, about 97% or more, about 98% or more, or about 99% or moreidentical in amino acid sequence to the parent PE or chimeric molecule.

The functional variant can, for example, comprise the amino acidsequence of the parent PE or chimeric molecule with at least oneconservative amino acid substitution. Conservative amino acidsubstitutions are known in the art and include amino acid substitutionsin which one amino acid having certain chemical and/or physicalproperties is exchanged for another amino acid that has the samechemical or physical properties. For instance, the conservative aminoacid substitution can be an acidic amino acid substituted for anotheracidic amino acid (e.g., Asp or Glu), an amino acid with a nonpolar sidechain substituted for another amino acid with a nonpolar side chain(e.g., Ala, Gly, Val, Ile, Leu, Met, Phe, Pro, Trp, Val, etc.), a basicamino acid substituted for another basic amino acid (Lys, Arg, etc.), anamino acid with a polar side chain substituted for another amino acidwith a polar side chain (Asn, Cys, Gln, Ser, Thr, Tyr, etc.), etc.

Alternatively or additionally, the functional variants can comprise theamino acid sequence of the parent PE or chimeric molecule with at leastone non-conservative amino acid substitution. In this case, it ispreferable for the non-conservative amino acid substitution to notinterfere with or inhibit the biological activity of the functionalvariant. Preferably, the non-conservative amino acid substitutionenhances the biological activity of the functional variant, such thatthe biological activity of the functional variant is increased ascompared to the parent PE or chimeric molecule.

The PE or chimeric molecule of the invention can consist essentially ofthe specified amino acid sequence or sequences described herein, suchthat other components of the functional variant, e.g., other aminoacids, do not materially change the biological activity of thefunctional variant.

The PE or chimeric molecule of the invention (including functionalportions and functional variants) of the invention can comprisesynthetic amino acids in place of one or more naturally-occurring aminoacids. Such synthetic amino acids are known in the art and include, forexample, aminocyclohexane carboxylic acid, norleucine, α-aminon-decanoic acid, homoserine, S-acetyl aminomethyl-cysteine, trans-3- andtrans-4-hydroxyproline, 4-aminophenylalanine, 4-nitrophenylalanine,4-chlorophenylalanine, 4-carboxyphenylalanine, β-phenylserineβ-hydroxyphenylalanine, phenylglycine, α-naphthylalanine,cyclohexylalanine, cyclohexyglycine, indoline-2-carboxylic acid,1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline-3-carboxylic acid, aminomalonic acid,aminomalonic acid monoamide, N′-benzyl-N′-methyl-lysine,N′,N′-dibenzyl-lysine, 6-hydroxylysine, ornithine, α-aminocyclopentanecarboxylic acid, α-aminocyclohexane carboxylic acid, α-aminocycloheptanecarboxylic acid, α-(2-amino-2-norbornane)-carboxylic acid,α,γ-diaminobutyric acid, α,β-diaminopropionic acid, homophenylalanine,and α-tert-butylglycine.

The PE or chimeric molecule of the invention (including functionalportions and functional variants) can be glycosylated, amidated,carboxylated, phosphorylated, esterified, N-acylated, cyclized via,e.g., a disulfide bridge, or converted into an acid addition salt and/oroptionally dimerized or polymerized, or conjugated.

An embodiment of the invention provides a method of producing theinventive PE comprising (a) recombinantly expressing the PE and (b)purifying the PE. The PEs and chimeric molecules of the invention(including functional portions and functional variants) can be obtainedby methods of producing proteins and polypeptides known in the art.Suitable methods of de novo synthesizing polypeptides and proteins aredescribed in references, such as Chan et al., Fmoc Solid Phase PeptideSynthesis, Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom, 2005;Peptide and Protein Drug Analysis, ed. Reid, R., Marcel Dekker, Inc.,2000; Epitope Mapping, ed. Westwood et al., Oxford University Press,Oxford, United Kingdom, 2000; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,752. Also, the PEsand chimeric molecules of the invention can be recombinantly expressedusing the nucleic acids described herein using standard recombinantmethods. See, for instance, Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: ALaboratory Manual, 3^(rd) ed., Cold Spring Harbor Press, Cold SpringHarbor, N.Y. 2001; and Ausubel et al., Current Protocols in MolecularBiology, Greene Publishing Associates and John Wiley & Sons, NY, 1994.

The method further comprises purifying the PE. Once expressed, theinventive PEs may be purified in accordance with purification techniquesknown in the art. Exemplary purification techniques include, but are notlimited to, ammonium sulfate precipitation, affinity columns, and columnchromatography, or by procedures described in, e.g., R. Scopes, ProteinPurification, Springer-Verlag, NY (1982).

Another embodiment of the invention provides a method of producing theinventive chimeric molecule comprising (a) recombinantly expressing thechimeric molecule and (b) purifying the chimeric molecule. The chimericmolecule may be recombinantly expressed and purified as described hereinwith respect to other aspects of the invention. In an embodiment of theinvention, recombinantly expressing the chimeric molecule comprisesinserting a nucleotide sequence encoding a targeting moiety and anucleotide sequence encoding a PE into a vector. The method may compriseinserting the nucleotide sequence encoding the targeting moiety and thenucleotide sequence encoding the PE in frame so that it encodes onecontinuous polypeptide including a functional targeting moiety regionand a functional PE region. In an embodiment of the invention, themethod comprises ligating a nucleotide sequence encoding the PE to anucleotide sequence encoding a targeting moiety so that, uponexpression, the PE is located at the carboxyl terminus of the targetingmoiety. In an alternative embodiment, the method comprises ligating anucleotide sequence encoding the PE to a nucleotide sequence encoding atargeting moiety so that, upon expression, the PE is located at theamino terminus of the targeting moiety.

Still another embodiment of the invention provides a method of producingthe inventive chimeric molecule comprising (a) recombinantly expressingthe inventive PE, (b) purifying the PE, and (c) covalently linking atargeting moiety to the purified PE. The inventive PE may berecombinantly expressed as described herein with respect to otheraspects of the invention. The method further comprises covalentlylinking a targeting moiety to the purified PE. The method of attaching aPE to a targeting moiety may vary according to the chemical structure ofthe targeting moiety. For example, the method may comprise reacting anyone or more of a variety of functional groups e.g., carboxylic acid(COOH), free amine (—NH₂), or sulfhydryl (—SH) groups present on the PEwith a suitable functional group on the targeting moiety, therebyforming a covalent bind between the PE and the targeting moiety.Alternatively or additionally, the method may comprise derivatizing thetargeting moiety or PE to expose or to attach additional reactivefunctional groups. Derivatizing may also include attaching one or morelinkers to the targeting moiety or PE.

In another embodiment of the invention, the inventive PEs and chimericmolecules may be produced using non-recombinant methods. For example,the inventive PEs and chimeric molecules described herein (includingfunctional portions and functional variants) can be commerciallysynthesized by companies, such as Synpep (Dublin, Calif.), PeptideTechnologies Corp. (Gaithersburg, Md.), and Multiple Peptide Systems(San Diego, Calif.). In this respect, the inventive PEs and chimericmolecules can be synthetic, recombinant, isolated, and/or purified.

It may be desirable, in some circumstances, to free the PE from thetargeting moiety when the chimeric molecule has reached one or moretarget cells. In this regard, the inventive chimeric molecules maycomprise a cleavable linker. The linker may be cleavable by any suitablemeans, e.g., enzymatically. For example, when the target cell is acancer (e.g., tumor) cell, the chimeric molecule may include a linkercleavable under conditions present at the tumor site (e.g. when exposedto tumor-associated enzymes or acidic pH).

An embodiment of the invention provides a nucleic acid comprising anucleotide sequence encoding any of the inventive PEs or the inventivechimeric molecules described herein. The term “nucleic acid,” as usedherein, includes “polynucleotide,” “oligonucleotide,” and “nucleic acidmolecule,” and generally means a polymer of DNA or RNA, which can besingle-stranded or double-stranded, which can be synthesized or obtained(e.g., isolated and/or purified) from natural sources, which can containnatural, non-natural or altered nucleotides, and which can contain anatural, non-natural, or altered internucleotide linkage, such as aphosphoroamidate linkage or a phosphorothioate linkage, instead of thephosphodiester found between the nucleotides of an unmodifiedoligonucleotide. It is generally preferred that the nucleic acid doesnot comprise any insertions, deletions, inversions, and/orsubstitutions. However, it may be suitable in some instances, asdiscussed herein, for the nucleic acid to comprise one or moreinsertions, deletions, inversions, and/or substitutions.

Preferably, the nucleic acids of the invention are recombinant. As usedherein, the term “recombinant” refers to (i) molecules that areconstructed outside living cells by joining natural or synthetic nucleicacid segments, or (ii) molecules that result from the replication ofthose described in (i) above. For purposes herein, the replication canbe in vitro replication or in vivo replication.

The nucleic acids can be constructed based on chemical synthesis and/orenzymatic ligation reactions using procedures known in the art. See, forexample, Sambrook et al., supra, and Ausubel et al., supra. For example,a nucleic acid can be chemically synthesized using naturally occurringnucleotides or variously modified nucleotides designed to increase thebiological stability of the molecules or to increase the physicalstability of the duplex formed upon hybridization (e.g.,phosphorothioate derivatives and acridine substituted nucleotides).Examples of modified nucleotides that can be used to generate thenucleic acids include, but are not limited to, 5-fluorouracil,5-bromouracil, 5-chlorouracil, 5-iodouracil, hypoxanthine, xanthine,4-acetylcytosine, 5-(carboxyhydroxymethyl) uracil,5-carboxymethylaminomethyl-2-thiouridine,5-carboxymethylaminomethyluracil, dihydrouracil,beta-D-galactosylqueosine, inosine, N⁶-isopentenyladenine,1-methylguanine, 1-methylinosine, 2,2-dimethylguanine, 2-methyladenine,2-methylguanine, 3-methylcytosine, 5-methylcytosine, N⁶-substitutedadenine, 7-methylguanine, 5-methylaminomethyluracil,5-methoxyaminomethyl-2-thiouracil, beta-D-mannosylqueosine,5′-methoxycarboxymethyluracil, 5-methoxyuracil,2-methylthio-N⁶-isopentenyladenine, uracil-5-oxyacetic acid (v),wybutoxosine, pseudouracil, queosine, 2-thiocytosine,5-methyl-2-thiouracil, 2-thiouracil, 4-thiouracil, 5-methyluracil,uracil-5-oxyacetic acid methylester, 3-(3-amino-3-N-2-carboxypropyl)uracil, and 2,6-diaminopurine. Alternatively, one or more of the nucleicacids of the invention can be purchased from companies, such asMacromolecular Resources (Fort Collins, Colo.) and Synthegen (Houston,Tex.).

The invention also provides a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotidesequence which is complementary to the nucleotide sequence of any of thenucleic acids described herein or a nucleotide sequence which hybridizesunder stringent conditions to the nucleotide sequence of any of thenucleic acids described herein.

The nucleotide sequence which hybridizes under stringent conditionspreferably hybridizes under high stringency conditions. By “highstringency conditions” is meant that the nucleotide sequencespecifically hybridizes to a target sequence (the nucleotide sequence ofany of the nucleic acids described herein) in an amount that isdetectably stronger than non-specific hybridization. High stringencyconditions include conditions which would distinguish a polynucleotidewith an exact complementary sequence, or one containing only a fewscattered mismatches, from a random sequence that happened to have onlya few small regions (e.g., 3-10 bases) that matched the nucleotidesequence. Such small regions of complementarity are more easily meltedthan a full-length complement of 14-17 or more bases, and highstringency hybridization makes them easily distinguishable. Relativelyhigh stringency conditions would include, for example, low salt and/orhigh temperature conditions, such as provided by about 0.02-0.1 M NaClor the equivalent, at temperatures of about 50-70° C. Such highstringency conditions tolerate little, if any, mismatch between thenucleotide sequence and the template or target strand, and areparticularly suitable for detecting expression of any of the inventivePEs or chimeric molecules. It is generally appreciated that conditionscan be rendered more stringent by the addition of increasing amounts offormamide.

The invention also provides a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotidesequence that is about 70% or more, e.g., about 80% or more, about 90%or more, about 91% or more, about 92% or more, about 93% or more, about94% or more, about 95% or more, about 96% or more, about 97% or more,about 98% or more, or about 99% or more identical to any of the nucleicacids described herein.

The nucleic acids of the invention can be incorporated into arecombinant expression vector. In this regard, the invention providesrecombinant expression vectors comprising any of the nucleic acids ofthe invention. For purposes herein, the term “recombinant expressionvector” means a genetically-modified oligonucleotide or polynucleotideconstruct that permits the expression of an mRNA, protein, polypeptide,or peptide by a host cell, when the construct comprises a nucleotidesequence encoding the mRNA, protein, polypeptide, or peptide, and thevector is contacted with the cell under conditions sufficient to havethe mRNA, protein, polypeptide, or peptide expressed within the cell.The vectors of the invention are not naturally-occurring as a whole.However, parts of the vectors can be naturally-occurring. The inventiverecombinant expression vectors can comprise any type of nucleotides,including, but not limited to DNA and RNA, which can be single-strandedor double-stranded, which can be synthesized or obtained in part fromnatural sources, and which can contain natural, non-natural or alterednucleotides. The recombinant expression vectors can comprisenaturally-occurring, non-naturally-occurring internucleotide linkages,or both types of linkages. Preferably, the non-naturally occurring oraltered nucleotides or internucleotide linkages does not hinder thetranscription or replication of the vector.

The recombinant expression vector of the invention can be any suitablerecombinant expression vector, and can be used to transform or transfectany suitable host cell. Suitable vectors include those designed forpropagation and expansion or for expression or for both, such asplasmids and viruses. The vector can be selected from the groupconsisting of the pUC series (Fermentas Life Sciences), the pBluescriptseries (Stratagene, LaJolla, Calif.), the pET series (Novagen, Madison,Wis.), the pGEX series (Pharmacia Biotech, Uppsala, Sweden), and the pEXseries (Clontech, Palo Alto, Calif.). Bacteriophage vectors, such asλGT10, λGT11, λZapII (Stratagene), λEMBL4, and λNM1149, also can beused. Examples of plant expression vectors include pBI01, pBI101.2,pBI101.3, pBI121 and pBIN19 (Clontech). Examples of animal expressionvectors include pEUK-Cl, pMAM, and pMAMneo (Clontech). Preferably, therecombinant expression vector is a viral vector, e.g., a retroviralvector.

The recombinant expression vectors of the invention can be preparedusing standard recombinant DNA techniques described in, for example,Sambrook et al., supra, and Ausubel et al., supra. Constructs ofexpression vectors, which are circular or linear, can be prepared tocontain a replication system functional in a prokaryotic or eukaryotichost cell. Replication systems can be derived, e.g., from ColEl, 2μplasmid, λ, SV40, bovine papilloma virus, and the like.

Desirably, the recombinant expression vector comprises regulatorysequences, such as transcription and translation initiation andtermination codons, which are specific to the type of host (e.g.,bacterium, fungus, plant, or animal) into which the vector is to beintroduced, as appropriate and taking into consideration whether thevector is DNA- or RNA-based.

The recombinant expression vector can include one or more marker genes,which allow for selection of transformed or transfected hosts. Markergenes include biocide resistance, e.g., resistance to antibiotics, heavymetals, etc., complementation in an auxotrophic host to provideprototrophy, and the like. Suitable marker genes for the inventiveexpression vectors include, for instance, neomycin/G418 resistancegenes, hygromycin resistance genes, histidinol resistance genes,tetracycline resistance genes, and ampicillin resistance genes.

The recombinant expression vector can comprise a native or nonnativepromoter operably linked to the nucleotide sequence encoding theinventive PE or chimeric molecule (including functional portions andfunctional variants), or to the nucleotide sequence which iscomplementary to or which hybridizes to the nucleotide sequence encodingthe PE or chimeric molecule. The selection of promoters, e.g., strong,weak, inducible, tissue-specific, and developmental-specific, is withinthe ordinary skill of the artisan. Similarly, the combining of anucleotide sequence with a promoter is also within the ordinary skill ofthe artisan. The promoter can be a non-viral promoter or a viralpromoter, e.g., a cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter, an SV40 promoter, anRSV promoter, or a promoter found in the long-terminal repeat of themurine stem cell virus.

The inventive recombinant expression vectors can be designed for eithertransient expression, for stable expression, or for both. Also, therecombinant expression vectors can be made for constitutive expressionor for inducible expression.

Another embodiment of the invention further provides a host cellcomprising any of the recombinant expression vectors described herein.As used herein, the term “host cell” refers to any type of cell that cancontain the inventive recombinant expression vector. The host cell canbe a eukaryotic cell, e.g., plant, animal, fungi, or algae, or can be aprokaryotic cell, e.g., bacteria or protozoa. The host cell can be acultured cell, an adherent cell or a suspended cell, i.e., a cell thatgrows in suspension. For purposes of producing a recombinant inventivePE or chimeric molecule, the host cell is preferably a prokaryotic cell,e.g., an E. coli cell.

Also provided by the invention is a population of cells comprising atleast one host cell described herein. The population of cells can be aheterogeneous population comprising the host cell comprising any of therecombinant expression vectors described, in addition to at least oneother cell, e.g., a host cell which does not comprise any of therecombinant expression vectors. Alternatively, the population of cellscan be a substantially homogeneous population, in which the populationcomprises mainly (e.g., consisting essentially of) host cells comprisingthe recombinant expression vector. The population also can be a clonalpopulation of cells, in which all cells of the population are clones ofa single host cell comprising a recombinant expression vector, such thatall cells of the population comprise the recombinant expression vector.In one embodiment of the invention, the population of cells is a clonalpopulation of host cells comprising a recombinant expression vector asdescribed herein.

The inventive PEs, chimeric molecules (including functional portions andfunctional variants), nucleic acids, recombinant expression vectors,host cells (including populations thereof), and populations of cells canbe isolated and/or purified. The teen “isolated” as used herein meanshaving been removed from its natural environment. The term “purified” asused herein means having been increased in purity, wherein “purity” is arelative term, and not to be necessarily construed as absolute purity.For example, the purity can be about 50% or more, about 60% or more,about 70% or more, about 80% or more, about 90% or more, or about 100%.The purity preferably is about 90% or more (e.g., about 90% to about95%) and more preferably about 98% or more (e.g., about 98% to about99%).

The inventive PEs, chimeric molecules (including functional portions andfunctional variants), nucleic acids, recombinant expression vectors,host cells (including populations thereof), and populations of cells,all of which are collectively referred to as “inventive PE materials”hereinafter, can be formulated into a composition, such as apharmaceutical composition. In this regard, the invention provides apharmaceutical composition comprising any of the PEs, chimeric molecules(including functional portions and functional variants), nucleic acids,recombinant expression vectors, host cells (including populationsthereof), and populations of cells, and a pharmaceutically acceptablecarrier. The inventive pharmaceutical composition containing any of theinventive PE materials can comprise more than one inventive PE material,e.g., a polypeptide and a nucleic acid, or two or more different PEs.Alternatively, the pharmaceutical composition can comprise an inventivePE material in combination with one or more other pharmaceuticallyactive agents or drugs, such as a chemotherapeutic agents, e.g.,asparaginase, busulfan, carboplatin, cisplatin, daunorubicin,doxorubicin, fluorouracil, gemcitabine, hydroxyurea, methotrexate,paclitaxel, rituximab, vinblastine, vincristine, etc.

Preferably, the carrier is a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. Withrespect to pharmaceutical compositions, the carrier can be any of thoseconventionally used and is limited only by chemico-physicalconsiderations, such as solubility and lack of reactivity with theactive compound(s), and by the route of administration. Thepharmaceutically acceptable carriers described herein, for example,vehicles, adjuvants, excipients, and diluents, are well-known to thoseskilled in the art and are readily available to the public. It ispreferred that the pharmaceutically acceptable carrier be one which ischemically inert to the active agent(s) and one which has no detrimentalside effects or toxicity under the conditions of use.

The choice of carrier will be determined in part by the particularinventive PE material, as well as by the particular method used toadminister the inventive PE material. Accordingly, there are a varietyof suitable formulations of the pharmaceutical composition of theinvention. The following formulations for parenteral (e.g.,subcutaneous, intravenous, intraarterial, intramuscular, intradermal,interperitoneal, and intrathecal), oral, and aerosol administration areexemplary and are in no way limiting. More than one route can be used toadminister the inventive PE materials, and in certain instances, aparticular route can provide a more immediate and more effectiveresponse than another route.

Topical formulations are well-known to those of skill in the art. Suchformulations are particularly suitable in the context of the inventionfor application to the skin.

Formulations suitable for oral administration can include (a) liquidsolutions, such as an effective amount of the inventive PE materialdissolved in diluents, such as water, saline, or orange juice; (b)capsules, sachets, tablets, lozenges, and troches, each containing apredetermined amount of the active ingredient, as solids or granules;(c) powders; (d) suspensions in an appropriate liquid; and (e) suitableemulsions. Liquid formulations may include diluents, such as water andalcohols, for example, ethanol, benzyl alcohol, and the polyethylenealcohols, either with or without the addition of a pharmaceuticallyacceptable surfactant. Capsule forms can be of the ordinary hard- orsoft-shelled gelatin type containing, for example, surfactants,lubricants, and inert fillers, such as lactose, sucrose, calciumphosphate, and corn starch. Tablet forms can include one or more oflactose, sucrose, mannitol, corn starch, potato starch, alginic acid,microcrystalline cellulose, acacia, gelatin, guar gum, colloidal silicondioxide, croscarmellose sodium, talc, magnesium stearate, calciumstearate, zinc stearate, stearic acid, and other excipients, colorants,diluents, buffering agents, disintegrating agents, moistening agents,preservatives, flavoring agents, and other pharmacologically compatibleexcipients. Lozenge forms can comprise the inventive PE material in aflavor, usually sucrose and acacia or tragacanth, as well as pastillescomprising the inventive PE material in an inert base, such as gelatinand glycerin, or sucrose and acacia, emulsions, gels, and the likeadditionally containing such excipients as are known in the art.

The inventive PE material, alone or in combination with other suitablecomponents, can be made into aerosol formulations to be administered viainhalation. These aerosol formulations can be placed into pressurizedacceptable propellants, such as dichlorodifluoromethane, propane,nitrogen, and the like. The aerosol formulations also may be formulatedas pharmaceuticals for non-pressured preparations, such as in anebulizer or an atomizer. Such spray formulations also may be used tospray mucosa.

Formulations suitable for parenteral administration include aqueous andnon-aqueous, isotonic sterile injection solutions, which can containanti-oxidants, buffers, bacteriostats, and solutes that render theformulation isotonic with the blood of the intended recipient, andaqueous and non-aqueous sterile suspensions that can include suspendingagents, solubilizers, thickening agents, stabilizers, and preservatives.The inventive PE material can be administered in a physiologicallyacceptable diluent in a pharmaceutical carrier, such as a sterile liquidor mixture of liquids, including water, saline, aqueous dextrose andrelated sugar solutions, an alcohol, such as ethanol or hexadecylalcohol, a glycol, such as propylene glycol or polyethylene glycol,dimethylsulfoxide, glycerol, ketals such as2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxolane-4-methanol, ethers, poly(ethyleneglycol) 400,oils, fatty acids, fatty acid esters or glycerides, or acetylated fattyacid glycerides with or without the addition of a pharmaceuticallyacceptable surfactant, such as a soap or a detergent, suspending agent,such as pectin, carbomers, methylcellulose,hydroxypropylmethylcellulose, or carboxymethylcellulose, or emulsifyingagents and other pharmaceutical adjuvants.

Oils, which can be used in parenteral formulations include petroleum,animal, vegetable, or synthetic oils. Specific examples of oils includepeanut, soybean, sesame, cottonseed, corn, olive, petrolatum, andmineral. Suitable fatty acids for use in parenteral formulations includeoleic acid, stearic acid, and isostearic acid. Ethyl oleate andisopropyl myristate are examples of suitable fatty acid esters.

Suitable soaps for use in parenteral formulations include fatty alkalimetal, ammonium, and triethanolamine salts, and suitable detergentsinclude (a) cationic detergents such as, for example, dimethyl dialkylammonium halides, and alkyl pyridinium halides, (b) anionic detergentssuch as, for example, alkyl, aryl, and olefin sulfonates, alkyl, olefin,ether, and monoglyceride sulfates, and sulfosuccinates, (c) nonionicdetergents such as, for example, fatty amine oxides, fatty acidalkanolamides, and polyoxyethylenepolypropylene copolymers, (d)amphoteric detergents such as, for example, alkyl-β-aminopropionates,and 2-alkyl-imidazoline quaternary ammonium salts, and (e) mixturesthereof.

The parenteral formulations will typically contain from about 0.5% toabout 25% by weight of the inventive PE material in solution.Preservatives and buffers may be used. In order to minimize or eliminateirritation at the site of injection, such compositions may contain oneor more nonionic surfactants having a hydrophile-lipophile balance (HLB)of from about 12 to about 17. The quantity of surfactant in suchformulations will typically range from about 5% to about 15% by weight.Suitable surfactants include polyethylene glycol sorbitan fatty acidesters, such as sorbitan monooleate and the high molecular weightadducts of ethylene oxide with a hydrophobic base, formed by thecondensation of propylene oxide with propylene glycol. The parenteralformulations can be presented in unit-dose or multi-dose sealedcontainers, such as ampoules and vials, and can be stored in afreeze-dried (lyophilized) condition requiring only the addition of thesterile liquid excipient, for example, water, for injections,immediately prior to use. Extemporaneous injection solutions andsuspensions can be prepared from sterile powders, granules, and tabletsof the kind previously described. The requirements for effectivepharmaceutical carriers for parenteral compositions are well-known tothose of ordinary skill in the art (see, e.g., Pharmaceutics andPharmacy Practice, J.B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, Pa., Bankerand Chalmers, eds., pages 238-250 (1982), and ASHP Handbook onInjectable Drugs, Toissel, 4th ed., pages 622-630 (1986)).

It will be appreciated by one of skill in the art that, in addition tothe above-described pharmaceutical compositions, the inventive PEmaterials of the invention can be formulated as inclusion complexes,such as cyclodextrin inclusion complexes, or liposomes.

For purposes of the invention, the amount or dose of the inventive PEmaterial administered should be sufficient to effect a desired response,e.g., a therapeutic or prophylactic response, in the mammal over areasonable time frame. For example, the dose of the inventive PEmaterial should be sufficient to inhibit growth of a target cell ortreat or prevent cancer in a period of from about 2 hours or longer,e.g., 12 to 24 or more hours, from the time of administration. Incertain embodiments, the time period could be even longer. The dose willbe determined by the efficacy of the particular inventive PE materialand the condition of the mammal (e.g., human), as well as the bodyweight of the mammal (e.g., human) to be treated.

Many assays for determining an administered dose are known in the art.An administered dose may be determined in vitro (e.g., cell cultures) orin vivo (e.g., animal studies). For example, an administered dose may bedetermined by determining the IC₅₀ (the dose that achieves ahalf-maximal inhibition of symptoms), LD₅₀ (the dose lethal to 50% ofthe population), the ED₅₀ (the dose therapeutically effective in 50% ofthe population), and the therapeutic index in cell culture and/or animalstudies. The therapeutic index is the ratio of LD₅₀ to ED₅₀ (i.e.,LD₅₀/ED₅₀).

The dose of the inventive PE material also will be determined by theexistence, nature, and extent of any adverse side effects that mightaccompany the administration of a particular inventive PE material.Typically, the attending physician will decide the dosage of theinventive PE material with which to treat each individual patient,taking into consideration a variety of factors, such as age, bodyweight, general health, diet, sex, inventive PE material to beadministered, route of administration, and the severity of the conditionbeing treated. By way of example and not intending to limit theinvention, the dose of the inventive PE material can be about 0.001 toabout 1000 mg/kg body weight of the subject being treated/day, fromabout 0.01 to about 10 mg/kg body weight/day, about 0.01 mg to about 1mg/kg body weight/day, from about 1 to about to about 1000 mg/kg bodyweight/day, from about 5 to about 500 mg/kg body weight/day, from about10 to about 250 mg/kg body weight/day, about 25 to about 150 mg/kg bodyweight/day, or about 10 mg/kg body weight/day.

Alternatively, the inventive PE materials can be modified into a depotform, such that the manner in which the inventive PE material isreleased into the body to which it is administered is controlled withrespect to time and location within the body (see, for example, U.S.Pat. No. 4,450,150). Depot forms of inventive PE materials can be, forexample, an implantable composition comprising the inventive PEmaterials and a porous or non-porous material, such as a polymer,wherein the inventive PE materials is encapsulated by or diffusedthroughout the material and/or degradation of the non-porous material.The depot is then implanted into the desired location within the bodyand the inventive PE materials are released from the implant at apredetermined rate.

The inventive PE materials may be assayed for cytoxicity by assays knownin the art. Examples of cytotoxicity assays include a WST assay, whichmeasures cell proliferation using the tetrazolium salt WST-1 (reagentsand kits available from Roche Applied Sciences), as described inInternational Patent Application Publication WO 2011/032022.

It is contemplated that the inventive pharmaceutical compositions, PEs,chimeric molecules, nucleic acids, recombinant expression vectors, hostcells, or populations of cells can be used in methods of treating orpreventing cancer. Without being bound by a particular theory ormechanism, it is believed that the inventive PEs destroy or inhibit thegrowth of cells through the inhibition of protein synthesis ineukaryotic cells, e.g., by the inactivation of the ADP-ribosylation ofelongation factor 2 (EF-2). Without being bound to a particular theoryor mechanism, the inventive chimeric molecules recognize andspecifically bind to cell surface markers, thereby delivering thecytotoxic PE to the population of cells expressing the cell surfacemarker with minimal or no cross-reactivity with cells that do notexpress the cell surface marker. In this way, the cytoxicity of PE canbe targeted to destroy or inhibit the growth of a particular populationof cells, e.g., cancer cells. In this regard, the invention provides amethod of treating or preventing cancer in a mammal comprisingadministering to the mammal any of the PEs, chimeric molecules, nucleicacids, recombinant expression vectors, host cell, population of cells,or pharmaceutical compositions described herein, in an amount effectiveto treat or prevent cancer in the mammal.

The terms “treat” and “prevent” as well as words stemming therefrom, asused herein, do not necessarily imply 100% or complete treatment orprevention. Rather, there are varying degrees of treatment or preventionof which one of ordinary skill in the art recognizes as having apotential benefit or therapeutic effect. In this respect, the inventivemethods can provide any amount of any level of treatment or preventionof cancer in a mammal. Furthermore, the treatment or prevention providedby the inventive method can include treatment or prevention of one ormore conditions or symptoms of the disease, e.g., cancer, being treatedor prevented. Also, for purposes herein, “prevention” can encompassdelaying the onset of the disease, or a symptom or condition thereof.

For purposes of the inventive methods, wherein host cells or populationsof cells are administered, the cells can be cells that are allogeneic orautologous to the host. Preferably, the cells are autologous to thehost.

With respect to the inventive methods, the cancer can be any cancer,including any of adrenal gland cancer, sarcomas (e.g., synovial sarcoma,osteogenic sarcoma, leiomyosarcoma uteri, angiosarcoma, fibrosarcoma,rhabdomyosarcoma, liposarcoma, myxoma, rhabdomyoma, fibroma, lipoma, andteratoma), lymphomas (e.g., small lymphocytic lymphoma, Hodgkinlymphoma, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma), hepatocellular carcinoma, glioma,head cancers (e.g., squamous cell carcinoma), neck cancers (e.g.,squamous cell carcinoma), acute lymphocytic cancer, leukemias (e.g.,hairy cell leukemia, myeloid leukemia (acute and chronic), lymphaticleukemia (acute and chronic), prolymphocytic leukemia (PLL),myelomonocytic leukemia (acute and chronic), and lymphocytic leukemia(acute and chronic)), bone cancer (osteogenic sarcoma, fibrosarcoma,malignant fibrous histiocytoma, chondrosarcoma, Ewing's sarcoma,malignant lymphoma (reticulum cell sarcoma), multiple myeloma, malignantgiant cell tumor, chordoma, osteochondroma (osteocartilaginousexostoses), benign chondroma, chondroblastoma, chondromyxoid fibroma,osteoid osteoma, and giant cell tumors), brain cancer (astrocytoma,medulloblastoma, glioma, ependymoma, germinoma (pinealoma), glioblastomamultiforme, oligodendroglioma, schwannoma, and retinoblastoma),fallopian tube cancer, breast cancer, cancer of the anus, anal canal, oranorectum, cancer of the eye, cancer of the intrahepatic bile duct,cancer of the joints, cancer of the neck, gallbladder, or pleura, cancerof the nose, nasal cavity, or middle ear, cancer of the oral cavity,cancer of the vulva (e.g., squamous cell carcinoma, intraepithelialcarcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and fibrosarcoma), myeloproliferativedisorders (e.g., chronic myeloid cancer), colon cancers (e.g., coloncarcinoma), esophageal cancer (e.g., squamous cell carcinoma,adenocarcinoma, leiomyosarcoma, and lymphoma), cervical cancer (cervicalcarcinoma and pre-invasive cervical dysplasia), gastric cancer,gastrointestinal carcinoid tumor, hypopharynx cancer, larynx cancer,liver cancers (e.g., hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma,hepatoblastoma, angiosarcoma, hepatocellular adenoma, and hemangioma),lung cancers (e.g., bronchogenic carcinoma (squamous cell,undifferentiated small cell, undifferentiated large cell, andadenocarcinoma), alveolar (bronchiolar) carcinoma, bronchial adenoma,chondromatous hamartoma, small cell lung cancer, non-small cell lungcancer, and lung adenocarcinoma), malignant mesothelioma, skin cancer(e.g., melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, Kaposi'ssarcoma, nevi, dysplastic nevi, lipoma, angioma, dermatofibroma, andkeloids), multiple myeloma, nasopharynx cancer, ovarian cancer (e.g.,ovarian carcinoma (serous cystadenocarcinoma, mucinouscystadenocarcinoma, endometrioid carcinoma, and clear celladenocarcinoma), granulosa-theca cell tumors, Sertoli-Leydig celltumors, dysgerminoma, and malignant teratoma), pancreatic cancer (e.g.,ductal adenocarcinoma, insulinoma, glucagonoma, gastrinoma, carcinoidtumors, and VIPoma), peritoneum, omentum, mesentery cancer, pharynxcancer, prostate cancer (e.g., adenocarcinoma and sarcoma), rectalcancer, kidney cancer (e.g., adenocarcinoma, Wilms tumor(nephroblastoma), and renal cell carcinoma), small intestine cancer(adenocarcinoma, lymphoma, carcinoid tumors, Kaposi's sarcoma,leiomyoma, hemangioma, lipoma, neurofibroma, and fibroma), soft tissuecancer, stomach cancer (e.g., carcinoma, lymphoma, and leiomyosarcoma),testicular cancer (e.g., seminoma, teratoma, embryonal carcinoma,teratocarcinoma, choriocarcinoma, sarcoma, Leydig cell tumor, fibroma,fibroadenoma, adenomatoid tumors, and lipoma), cancer of the uterus(e.g., endometrial carcinoma), thyroid cancer, and urothelial cancers(e.g., squamous cell carcinoma, transitional cell carcinoma,adenocarcinoma, ureter cancer, and urinary bladder cancer).

As used herein, the term “mammal” refers to any mammal, including, butnot limited to, mammals of the order Rodentia, such as mice andhamsters, and mammals of the order Logomorpha, such as rabbits. It ispreferred that the mammals are from the order Carnivora, includingFelines (cats) and Canines (dogs). It is more preferred that the mammalsare from the order Artiodactyla, including Bovines (cows) and Swines(pigs) or of the order Perssodactyla, including Equines (horses). It ismost preferred that the mammals are of the order Primates, Ceboids, orSimoids (monkeys) or of the order Anthropoids (humans and apes). Anespecially preferred mammal is the human.

Also provided is a method of inhibiting the growth of a target cellcomprising contacting the cell with the PE of any of the PEs, chimericmolecules, nucleic acids, recombinant expression vectors, host cell,population of cells, or pharmaceutical compositions described herein, inan amount effective to inhibit growth of the target cell. The growth ofthe target cell may be inhibited by any amount, e.g., by about 10% ormore, about 15% or more, about 20% or more, about 25% or more, about 30%or more, about 35% or more, about 40% or more, about 45% or more, about50% or more, about 55% or more, about 60% or more, about 65% or more,about 70% or more, about 75% or more, about 80% or more, about 85% ormore, about 90% or more, about 95% or more, or about 100%. The targetcell may be provided in a biological sample. A biological sample may beobtained from a mammal in any suitable manner and from any suitablesource. The biological sample may, for example, be obtained by a blooddraw, leukapheresis, and/or tumor biopsy or necropsy. The contactingstep can take place in vitro or in vivo with respect to the mammal.Preferably, the contacting is in vitro.

In an embodiment of the invention, the target cell is a cancer cell. Thetarget cell may be a cancer cell of any of the cancers described herein.In an embodiment of the invention, the target may express a cell surfacemarker. The cell surface marker may be any cell surface marker describedherein with respect to other aspects of the invention. The cell surfacemarker may be, for example, selected from the group consisting of CD19,CD21, CD22, CD25, CD30, CD33, CD79b, transferrin receptor, EGF receptor,mesothelin, cadherin, and Lewis Y.

The following examples further illustrate the invention but, of course,should not be construed as in any way limiting its scope.

Example 1

This example demonstrates the frequency of HLA class 2 alleles in anaïve donor cohort as compared to that of the world population.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated from 65 healthydonors obtained from the NIH blood bank and 50 patients undergoingtreatment with immunotoxin at the NCI. PBMC were isolated from buffycoats by Ficoll density centrifugation. The HLA class I and class IIhaplotypes of the PBMC of patients and healthy donors were identifiedusing a PCR-SSP/SSO-based tissue typing kit. PBMC were then frozen inheat-inactivated human AB serum and standard freezing media and storedin liquid nitrogen until used.

A cohort of 65 healthy donors was studied to provide information on thenumber and frequency of HLA DR allotypes expressed in the worldpopulation. Analysis of the allotypes expressed in the naïve donorcohort was compared with the world population (Middleton, D. et al., NewAllele Frequency Database: <www.allelefrequencies.net>, Tissue Antigens,61(5): 403-7(2003)), which showed that there was a reasonablerepresentation of the major HLA class II DRB1 alleles in the naïve donorcohort. Statistical analysis showed a correlation between the worldpopulation and the donor cohort of R²=0.52. FIG. 1 compares thefrequency of the different types of HLA class 2 alleles in the worldpopulation with the naïve donor cohort. Table 1 shows the HLA class IIDRB1 haplotypes of the donor population.

TABLE 1 Donor No. Donor ID HLA II DRB1 alleles 1 10710aph 1001 1501 2021610aph 15 1501 3 030210aph 12 1602 4 030910aph 0301 401 5 031810aph0301 1501 6 033010aph 08 15 7 040110aph 0804 13 8 040610aph 3021 1503 9040810aph 0407 15 10 041310aph 0101 301 11 080409aph 0701 1302 12081209aph 1404 1501 13 111909aph 1001 15 14 101909aph 0401 0404 15020210aph 03 0401 16 020410aph 0402 1101 17 122209aph 12 1602 18122910aph 0301 1101 19 010510aph 1301 1503 20 011410aph 0301 03 21111209aph 0804 1101 22 110909aph 1001 1602 23 030410aph 0401 1501 24011210aph 0401 1304 25 101509aph 0101 0301 26 102609aph 0404 0802 27100509aph 07 07 28 082509aph 0803 1502 29 120809aph 1101 1302 30030211aph 03 11 31 090109aph 0301 1303 32 092809aph 0405 1303 33032510aph 07 1501 34 121709aph 1101 1502 35 012110aph 0401 07 36082709aph 0401 1302 37 021611aph 04 13 38 100109aph 0401 1502 39031611aph 804 1303 40 011910aph 1001 15 41 032311aph 1501 1502 42041311aph 0301 0701 43 072309aph 0803 1502 44 071311aph 01 07 45073009aph 0804 1503 46 042011aph 0806 1501 47 060811aph 01 13 48061511aph 0802 1503 49 051111aph 0405 11 50 062911aph 0404 15

Example 2

This example demonstrates the preparation of a peptide library to beused to stimulate T cells.

To determine the immunogenicity of the toxin moiety, a library of 111peptides was designed, spanning the entire sequence of PE38. Thepeptides each had a size of 15 amino acids and overlapped by 12 aminoacids with the exception of peptide SEQ ID NOs: 31 and 32, whichoverlapped by 11 amino acids. The peptides were synthesized at >95%purity as determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)(American Peptide Co. Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif.). The lyophilizedsynthetic peptides were dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to make10 μM stock solutions.

The peptides were grouped into 22 pools as shown in Table 2. Table 2shows the sequences, SEQ ID NOs, and pool numbers of the peptides usedfor epitope mapping.

TABLE 2 SEQ ID NO: Sequence pool 31 PEGGSLAALTAHQAC 1 32 SLAALTAHQACHLPL1 33 ALTAHQACHLPLETF 1 34 AHQACHLPLETFTRH 1 35 ACHLPLETFTRHRQP 1 36LPLETFTRHRQPRGW 2 37 ETFTRHRQPRGWEQL 2 38 TRHRQPRGWEQLEQC 2 39RQPRGWEQLEQCGYP 2 40 RGWEQLEQCGYPVQR 2 41 EQLEQCGYPVQRLVA 3 42EQCGYPVQRLVALYL 3 43 GYPVQRLVALYLAAR 3 44 VQRLVALYLAARLSW 3 45LVALYLAARLSWNQV 3 46 LYLAARLSWNQVDQV 4 47 AARLSWNQVDQVIRN 4 48LSWNQVDQVIRNALA 4 49 NQVDQVIRNALASPG 4 50 DQVIRNALASPGSGG 4 51IRNALASPGSGGDLG 5 52 ALASPGSGGDLGEAI 5 53 SPGSGGDLGEAIREQ 5 54SGGDLGEAIREQPEQ 5 55 DLGEAIREQPEQARL 5 56 EAIREQPEQARLALT 6 57REQPEQARLALTLAA 6 58 PEQARLALTLAAAES 6 59 ARLALTLAAAESERF 6 60ALTLAAAESERFVRQ 6 61 LAAAESERFVRQGTG 7 62 AESERFVRQGTGNDE 7 63ERFVRQGTGNDEAGA 7 64 VRQGTGNDEAGAANG 7 65 GTGNDEAGAANGPAD 7 66NDEAGAANGPADSGD 8 67 AGAANGPADSGDALL 8 68 ANGPADSGDALLERN 8 69PADSGDALLERNYPT 8 70 SGDALLERNYPTGAE 8 71 ALLERNYPTGAEFLG 9 72ERNYPTGAEFLGDGG 9 73 YPTGAEFLGDGGDVS 9 74 GAEFLGDGGDVSFST 9 75FLGDGGDVSFSTRGT 9 76 DGGDVSFSTRGTQNW 10 77 DVSFSTRGTQNWTVE 10 78FSTRGTQNWTVERLL 10 79 RGTQNWTVERLLQAH 10 80 QNWTVERLLQAHRQL 10 81TVERLLQAHRQLEER 11 82 RLLQAHRQLEERGYV 11 83 QAHRQLEERGYVFVG 11 84RQLEERGYVFVGYHG 11 85 EERGYVFVGYHGTFL 11 86 GYVFVGYHGTFLEAA 12 87FVGYHGTFLEAAQSI 12 88 YHGTFLEAAQS1VFG 12 89 TFLEAAQSIVFGGVR 12 90EAAQSIVFGGVRARS 12 91 QSIVFGGVRARSQDL 13 92 VFGGVRARSQDLDAI 13 93GVRARSQDLDAIWRG 13 94 ARSQDLDAIWRGFYI 13 95 QDLDAIWRGFYIAGD 13 96DAIWRGFYIAGDPAL 14 97 WRGFYIAGDPALAYG 14 98 FYIAGDPALAYGYAQ 14 99AGDPALAYGYAQDQE 14 100 PALAYGYAQDQEPDA 14 101 AYGYAQDQEPDARGR 15 102YAQDQEPDARGRIRN 15 103 DQEPDARGRIRNGAL 15 104 PDARGRIRNGALLRV 15 105RGRIRNGALLRVYVP 15 106 IRNGALLRVYVPRSS 16 107 GALLRVYVPRSSLPG 16 108LRVYVPRSSLPGFYR 16 109 YVPRSSLPGFYRTSL 16 110 RSSLPGFYRTSLTLA 16 111LPGFYRTSLTLAAPE 17 112 FYRTSLTLAAPEAAG 17 113 TSLTLAAPEAAGEVE 17 114TLAAPEAAGEVERLI 17 115 APEAAGEVERLIGHP 17 116 AAGEVERLIGHPLPL 18 117EVERLIGHPLPLRLD 18 118 RLIGHPLPLRLDAIT 18 119 GHPLPLRLDAITGPE 18 120LPLRLDAITGPEEEG 18 121 RLDAITGPEEEGGRL 19 122 AITGPEEEGGRLETI 19 123GPEEEGGRLETILGW 19 124 EEGGRLETILGWPLA 19 125 GRLETILGWPLAERT 19 126ETILGWPLAERTVVI 20 127 LGWPLAERTVVIPSA 20 128 PLAERTVVIPSAIPT 20 129ERTVVIPSAIPTDPR 20 130 VVIPSAIPTDPRNVG 20 131 PSAIPTDPRNVGGDL 21 132IPTDPRNVGGDLDPS 21 133 DPRNVGGDLDPSSIP 21 134 NVGGDLDPSSIPDKE 21 135GDLDPSSIPDKEQAI 21 136 DPSSIPDKEQAISAL 22 137 SIPDKEQAISALPDY 22 138DKEQAISALPDYASQ 22 139 QAISALPDYASQPGK 22 140 SALPDYASQPGKPPR 22 141PDYASQPGKPPREDL 22

Example 3

This example demonstrates that in vitro expansion of naïve donor T cellsimproves the sensitivity and response level of the T cells to peptidepools.

In order to mimic the immune response that occurs in patients followingtreatment and to overcome the low sensitivity and unresponsiveness innaïve donor samples in the short term assay, a 17 day in vitro expansionstep was employed to expand the specific T cell population (Oseroff etal., J. Immunol., 185 (2): 943-55 (2010)). The cells were incubated for14-17 days after stimulation with immunotoxin. For stimulation,immunotoxin LMB9 or B3 (dsFv)-PE38 targeting LeY (Brinkmann et al.,Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 90 (16): 7538-42 (1993)), an antigen notpresent on human immune cells, was used. On day 14-17, the cells wereharvested and assayed by an interleukin (IL)-2 ELISpot assay using the22 peptide pools of Table 2. The addition of the in vitro expansion stepimproved the sensitivity and response level of the ELISpot assay (e.g.,more spot forming cells (SFC) were observed). The in vitro expansionstep allowed the detection of a CD4-specific response from volunteerdonors and also reduced the number of cells used for each assay.

Representative data are shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. FIG. 2A shows theenumeration of IL-2 ELISpot wells indicating a response of naïve donor031810aph T cells to initial stimulation of LMB9 (1.6 μg/ml) followed byrestimulation with media alone (no peptide) (M) or peptide pools 3, 16,or 22 after 17 days of in vitro expansion. FIG. 2B shows the enumerationof IL-2 ELISpot wells indicating a response of naïve donor 031810aph Tcells to initial stimulation of LMB9 (1.6 μg/ml) followed byrestimulation with media alone (no peptide) (M) or peptide pools 3, 16,or 22 without in vitro expansion.

Without wishing to be bound to a particular theory or mechanism, it isbelieved that this approach mimicked the immune response because, as invivo, the whole recombinant immunotoxin (RIT) was internalized by theantigen presenting cell (APC), processed, and presented during the firstfew days of culture. The specific T cells that responded to thenaturally presented peptides were maintained and expanded using IL-2.The epitopes that those T cells recognized after the 17 days ofexpansion were naturally processed and naturally presented peptides.

Example 4

This example demonstrates that LVALYLAARLSW (SEQ ID NO: 3) stimulates aT-cell response for most donors.

Following initial stimulation with immunotoxin and 14 days of expansion,half of the cells were harvested and exposed to the peptide pools for aninitial pool screen with IL-2 ELISpot. On day 17, the remaining cellswere used to repeat the pool screen and a fine screen for the positivepools observed was performed. Different response patterns were observedfor the 28 donors on day 14 of the assay. Some donor screens revealed aresponse to a single pool (e.g., donors 1, 4, 7, and 8) while otherdonors (e.g., donors 15, 16, and 23) revealed responses to 3-4 pools.Because the peptides overlapped, there was also an overlap between poolssuch as, for example, cases in which sequential pools had responses(e.g., the response to pools 15 and 16 for donors 15 and 18). Athreshold was determined to be 85 SFC/(1×10⁶). This threshold wasdetermined because for values under 85 SFC/(1×10⁶), none of theresponses from day 14 were reproducible on day 17 or when the in vitroexpansion was repeated. Responses over 85 SFC/(1×10⁶) were reproducible.

Four donors (donors 25-28) had no response (over the determinedthreshold) to any pool and were considered to be non-responsive. Out ofthe initial 28 donors that were fully screened, 24 donors had a responseto at least one pool. Different donors had different maximal responselevels. Some donors (e.g., donors 2, 7, and 10) had a high maximumresponse (over 1100 SFC for pool 3), while other donors (e.g., donors 3and 9) had a response of 250-320 SFC to the same pool.

The number of donors screened was increased to 50. The number of spotforming cells observed among all 50 donors was totaled for each of the22 peptide pools. The results are shown in Table 3 and FIG. 3. Ananalysis of all 50 donors shows that pool 3 (in PE domain II) gave themost responses (Table 3; FIG. 3). The results suggest that pool 3 was animmunodominant pool, having stimulated responses from many donors withdifferent HLAs.

TABLE 3 Total spots (n = 50) in Spot Forming Cells/1 Peptide millioncells no peptide 1434.5 pool 1 4947.5 pool 2 5952.5 pool 3 22555 pool 41667.5 pool 5 1925 pool 6 2742.5 pool 7 5415 pool 8 3472.5 pool 9 2245pool 10 3572.5 pool 11 7147.5 pool 12 4235 pool 13 1660 pool 14 6880pool 15 4750 pool 16 8555 pool 17 1792.5 pool 18 1965 pool 19 4597.5pool 20 1680 pool 21 1435 pool 22 1360 —

A fine screen of pool 3 to find the immunodominant region(s) showed thatfor most donors, peptide SEQ ID NOs: 44 and 45 were responsible for theresponse within pool 3 (FIG. 4). FIG. 4 shows that peptide SEQ ID NOs:44 and 45 contained a common region (LVALYLAARLSW) (SEQ ID NO: 3) forstimulating T cells in most of the patients despite having a differentHLA status.

Example 5

This example demonstrates that the substitutions L294A, L297A, Y298A,L299A, or R302A in LVALYLAARLSW (SEQ ID NO: 3) reduces immunogenicity ofLVALYLAARLSW (SEQ ID NO: 3).

Peptide SEQ ID NOs: 44 and 45 (within pool 3) have 12 amino acids incommon. This common area, LVALYLAARLSW (SEQ ID NO: 3), corresponds toamino acid residue positions 294-305 of SEQ ID NO: 1 and contains boththe MHC binding site as well as the T cell receptor binding site. Eachamino acid in LVALYLAARLSW (SEQ ID NO: 3) was substituted with alanine.Samples from 9 naïve donors and 2 patients were stimulated with LMB9 for17 days and assayed using IL-2 ELISpot as described in Example 3. Table4 summarizes the data from screening 11 samples against the substitutedpeptides. For 10 out of the 11 samples, one substitution or morediminished the response to under 7% of the response to wild-type (WT).For all donors but one, substitution L297A reduced the response to 7% orless. Y298A reduced the response in 9 out of the 11 samples, and R302Areduced the response in 7 out of the 11 samples. Table 4 shows thepercent response of the response obtained with WT peptide.

TABLE 4 Patient Patient 091510 012810 d010710 d021610 d031810 d033010d040610 d010510 d111909 d030410 d122209 Media 0% 2% 0% 1% 10% 3% 1% 14%0% 0% 13% WT 15 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%L294A 5% 21% 26% 6% 26% 1% 7% 23% 21% 3% 49% L297A 0% 2% 6% 2% 6% 1% 6%6% 7% 5% 52% Y298A 0% 0% 3% 2% 17% 2% 1% 3% 0% 3% 19% L299A 5% 112% 1%28% 6% 78% 45% 19% 14% 24% 44% R302A 14% 63% 3% 6% 22% 3% 7% 14% 7% 5%11% L303A 71% 356% 78% 27% 46% 50% 59% 28% 117% 70% 85% S304A 133% 305%82% 26% 106% 69% 56% 43% 117% 64% 109% W305A 186% 628% 76% 58% 104% 101%64% 45% 117% 132% 87%

Without being bound to a particular theory or mechanism, it is believedthat the diminished response following a change in a single amino acidmay be attributed to an interruption of the binding of the peptide tothe groove(s) of the HLA molecule or an inability of the T cell receptorto recognize the changed peptide. In either case, substituted peptidesL279A and Y298A caused a diminished response and, therefore, may beconsidered to be provide reduced immunogenicity.

Example 6

This example demonstrates that the substitution R302A does not createany new T cell epitopes and provides a reduced T cell response.

Site-directed mutagenesis was used to prepare RIT R302 HA22 and L297AHA22 as described previously (Pastan et al., Methods Mol. Biol., 248:503-18 (2004)). Cytotoxic activity on CA46 cells was compared to that ofHA22 wild type (FIG. 5). FIG. 5 shows that HA22 constructs withsubstitution L297A or R302A were cytotoxic. The IC50 of HA22, L297AHA22, and R302A HA22 was 1.1, 1.8, and 1.8 ng/ml, respectively.

PBMC from donors 010710 and 111909 were cultured for 14 days with eitherWT HA22 or with HA22-R302A and assayed for T cell response uponrestimulation with no peptide, wild-type peptide LVALYLAARLSWNQV (SEQ IDNO: 45) (WT15), or LVALYLAAALSWNQV (SEQ ID NO: 145) (R302A). For both ofdonors 010710 (FIG. 6A) and 111909 (FIG. 6B), no new epitopes wereobserved, and the T cell response to the substituted peptide wasdiminished.

Example 7

This example demonstrates that deletion of the portion of domain IIcontaining the immunodominant epitope reduces the T cell response to thepeptides of PE38.

As shown in Example 4, domain II contains an immunodominant andpromiscuous epitope (contained in SEQ ID NOs: 44 and 45 of pool 3).PE-LR (resistance to lysosomal degradation) (also known as LR or LR RIT)contains a deletion of domain II except for the furin cleavage sequenceRHRQPRGWEQL (SEQ ID NO: 8), which is present in SEQ ID NOs: 37 and 38.Thus, LR RIT contains amino acid residues 274-284 and 395-613 of SEQ IDNO: 1.

The response of donor T cells that were stimulated by HA22 (containingPE38) to the 22 peptide pools of Table 2 was compared to that of donor Tcells that were stimulated by PE-LR (that completely lacks theimmunodominant epitope).

On Day 0, T cells from three donors (Donor 031510, Donor 021610, orDonor 101509) were plated in 6-well plates and stimulated with 10 μg/mlof either HA22 or PE-LR. On day 14, the cells were harvested and platedin an IL-2 ELISpot plate and incubated with the peptides of one of eachof the 22 pools of Table 2 in replicas of 4. Controls includedceftazidime (CEFT)-grown cells, cells with no antigen stimulation on day0 and no antigen stimulation on day 14 (“M line”), and cells with LMB9stimulation on day 0 and no antigen stimulation on day 14 (“nopeptide”).

The results are shown in FIGS. 7A (Donor 031510), 7B (Donor 021610), and7C (Donor 101509). The T cells from all three donors demonstrated aresponse upon stimulation with HA22 (containing PE38) and restimulationwith the peptides of pool 3. No response was observed for cells thatwere stimulated with PE-LR.

Example 8

This example demonstrates the identification of T-cell epitopes in PEdomain III.

Following initial stimulation with immunotoxin and 14 days of expansion,T cells from 20 donors were harvested and exposed to the peptide poolsfor an initial pool screen with IL-2 ELISpot as described in Example 4.On day 17, the remaining cells were used to repeat the pool screen and afine screen with peptides SEQ ID NOs: 102-111 was performed. The resultsare shown in FIG. 8. The peptides that stimulated IL-2 production by theT cells from each of donors 1-20 are shaded in FIG. 8.

Example 9

This example demonstrates that a substitution of alanine in place of1493, R494, N495, G496, L498, L499, R500, V501 or Y502 reduces the Tcell response, as measured by IL-2 production, as compared to theresponse to wild-type (WT) peptide.

Each non-alanine amino acid in the wild-type peptide IRNGALLRVYVPRSS(SEQ ID NO: 106) was substituted with alanine. Samples from naïve donorswere stimulated with LMB9 for 17 days and assayed using IL-2 ELISpot asdescribed in Example 3. Table 5 summarizes the data from screening sixsamples against the substituted peptides.

TABLE 5 Donors peptide 071509wb 091510aph 050710aph 101910aph 121709aph030211aph WT 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% SEQ ID NO: 106 I493A 86% 13%0% 111% 5% 6% R494A 133% 0% 2% 62% 2% 12% N495A 117% 25% 2% 67% 1% 35%G496A 97% 58% 18% 35% 14% 18% L498A 24% 4% 0% 57% 5% 0% L499A 30% 0% 0%26% 9% 6% R500A 1% 4% 24% 38% 13% 24% V501A 43% 0% 7% 31% 27% 0% Y502A3% 4% 18% 37% 37% 12% V503A 62% 58% 47% 37% 36% 41% P504A 53% 125% 49%32% 56% 206% R505A 36% 83% 87% 21% 95% 147% S506A 114% 138% 44% 54% 55%312% S507A 119% 96% 51% 40% 100% 235%

As shown in Table 5, for all six samples, one substitution or morediminished the response to 10-30% of the response to WT. For five out ofsix samples, one substitution or more diminished the response to lessthan 10% of the response to WT. Substitution I493A, R494A, N495A, G496A,L498A, L499A, R500A, V501A or Y502A reduces the T cell response by 70%or more as compared to the response to WT in at least three out of thesix samples. Table 5 shows the percent response of the response obtainedwith WT peptide.

Example 10

This example demonstrates that SEQ ID NOs: 38, 39, 44, 45, 81, 82,86-88, 97, 98, 105-108, and 123-125 contain T cell epitopes.

Fine screens of all positive pools for 50 donors were performed todetermine immunodominant region(s). For each donor, the number of SFCwas totaled, and each peptide's relative share of the total number ofSFC was calculated and normalized according to the formula (I) below,wherein D represents donor, and x represents one of the 50 donors, Prepresents peptide, y represents one of the peptides SEQ ID NOs: 31-141,and S_(y) represents the number of SFC for peptide y:For each D _(x) :P _(y) =S _(y)/Σ_(y=1) ¹¹¹ S _(y)   (I).

The normalized value represents the level of immunogenicity of eachpeptide, and the tally of these relative values for 50 donors is shownin FIG. 9. FIG. 9 shows that the following peptides contain T cellepitopes: SEQ ID NOs: 38, 39, 44, 45, 81, 82, 86, 87, 88, 97, 98, 105,106, 107, 108, 123, 124, and 125.

The most immunogenic peptides in domain III were selected based on thedata set forth in FIG. 9. The peptides, the number of donors andpatients that responded to the peptide, and the sequences common to thepeptides are set forth in Table 6. The patients in Table 6 werepreviously treated with PE38, and the response shown in Table 6 is amemory response. In Table 6, a response is defined as 5% of a donor's orpatient's SFC responding to the peptide.

TABLE 6 Number of Number of donors that patients that respondedresponded to the to the Epitope peptide peptide # pool (n = 50) (n = 12)Sequence Common sequence 1 15 3 6 RGRIRNGALLRVYVP (SEQ ID NO: 105)IRNGALLRVYVP 16 5 5 IRNGALLRVYVPRSS (SEQ ID NO: 106) (SEQ ID NO: 190) 46 GALLRVYVPRSSLPG (SEQ ID NO: 107) 5 7 LRVYVPRSSLPGFYR (SEQ ID NO: 108)LRVYVPRSSLPG (SEQ ID NO: 191) 2 14 4 5 WRGFYIAGDPALAYG (SEQ ID NO: 97)FYIAGDPALAYG 5 3 FYIAGDPALAYGYAQ (SEQ ID NO: 98) (SEQ ID NO: 192) 3 11 44 TVERLLQAHRQLEER (SEQ ID NO: 81) RLLQAHRQLEER 3 4RLLQAHRQLEERGYV (SEQ ID NO: 2) (SEQ ID NO: 193) 4 19 1 0GPEEEGGRLETILGW (SEQ ID NO: 123) EEGGRLETILGW 2 4EEGGRLETILGWPLA (SEQ ID NO: 124) (SEQ ID NO: 194) 2 4GRLETILGWPLAERT (SEQ ID NO: 125) GRLETILGWPLA (SEQ ID NO: 195) 5 12 4 4GYVFVGYHGTFLEAA (SEQ ID NO: 86) FVGYHGTFLEAA 2 5FVGYHGTFLEAAQSI (SEQ ID NO: 87) (SEQ ID NO: 196) 3 3YHGTFLEAAQSIVFG (SEQ ID NO: 88) YHGTFLEAAQSI (SEQ ID NO: 197)

Example 11

This example demonstrates that the substitutions R421A, L422A, L423A,A425G, R427A, L429A, Y470A, I471A, A472G, P475A, A476G, L477A, I493A,N495A, R494A, L498A, L499A, R500A, V501A, Y502A, V503A, R505A, L508A, orP509A as defined by reference to SEQ ID NO: 1, reduce immunogenicity ofPE.

SEQ ID NO: 106 corresponds to amino acid residue positions 493-507 ofSEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 107 corresponds to amino acid residue positions496-510 of SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO: 97 corresponds to amino acid residuepositions 466-480 of SEQ ID NO: 1, and SEQ ID NO:81 corresponds to aminoacid residue positions 418-432 of SEQ ID NO: 1. Each amino acid in SEQID NO: 106 and SEQ ID NO: 107 was substituted with alanine. Samples fromdonors and patients were stimulated with LMB9 for 17 days and assayedusing IL-2 ELISpot as described in Example 3. Table 7 (SEQ ID NO: 106),Table 8 (SEQ ID NO: 107), Table 9 (SEQ ID NO: 97), and Table 10 (SEQ IDNO: 81) summarize the data (% of the response to wild-type (WT) peptide)from screening the samples against the substituted peptides.

TABLE 7 (SEQ ID NO: 106) Patient Donor 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Nopeptide 0% 0% 0% 4% 0% 9% 42% 0% 1% 17% 1% 0% WT76 100% 100% 100% 100%100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% I493A 86% 13% 0% 5% 6% 20% 32%110% 36% 71% 76% 0% R494A 133% 0% 2% 2% 12% 26% 23% 111% 2% 88% 94% 1%N495A 117% 25% 2% 1% 35% 40% 42% 102% 31% 72% 72% 1% G496A 97% 58% 18%14% 18% 37% 39% 96% 63% 44% 99% 8% L498A 24% 4% 0% 5% 0% 80% 23% 6% 4%16% 31% 1% L499A 30% 0% 0% 9% 6% 31% 39% 30% 1% 15% 57% 1% R500A 1% 4%24% 13% 24% 26% 19% 1% 2% 20% 6% 1% V501A 43% 0% 7% 27% 0% 46% 94% 25%13% 27% 48% 4% Y502A 3% 4% 18% 37% 12% 23% 42% 5% 23% 20% 0% 6% V503A62% 58% 47% 36% 41% 63% 55% 35% 68% 27% 43% 33% P504A 53% 125% 49% 56%206% 60% 55% 35% 122% 26% 18% 63% R505A 36% 83% 87% 95% 147% 131% 123%36% 127% 23% 30% 83% S506A 114% 138% 44% 55% 312% 214% 104% 101% 107%55% 82% 56% S507A 119% 96% 51% 100% 235% 137% 97% 71% 69% 83% 84% 45%

As shown in Table 7, substitution I493A, R494A, N495A, L498A, L499A,R500A Y502A, V501A, or Y502A reduces the T cell response by 70% or moreas compared to the response to WT peptide.

TABLE 8 (SEQ ID NO: 107) % of WT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 No peptide 0% 0% 7% 0%18% 9% 1% wt 77 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% G496A 29% 51% 123%126% 58% 112% 37% A497G 103% 68% 126% 102% 108% 129% 71% L498A 61% 38%140% 7% 20% 13% 43% L499A 46% 24% 61% 33% 26% 73% 1% R500A 59% 31% 124%1% 16% 1% 6% V501A 7% 18% 28% 18% 26% 49% 15% Y502A 14% 1% 9% 4% 25% 8%0% V503A 17% 1% 9% 15% 39% 49% 1% P504A 46% 32% 41% 38% 43% 12% 36%R505A 7% 1% 22% 28% 24% 39% 2% S506A 68% 42% 50% 107% 93% 122% 48% S507A35% 37% 224% 86% 106% 96% 60% L508A 8% 0% 15% 73% 99% 88% 46% P509A 10%4% 16% 87% 101% 119% 72% G510A 113% 144% 210% 116% 114% 114% 104%

As shown in Table 8, substitution L498A, L499A, R500A, V501A, Y502A,V503A, R505A, L508A, or P509A reduces the T cell response by 70% or moreas compared to the response to WT peptide.

TABLE 9 (SEQ ID NO: 97) % from WT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 11 12 13 No 0% 6% 13%1% 13% 43% 26% 0% 29% 47% 0% peptide WT 67 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%100% 100% 100% 100% 100% F469A 80% 11% 104% 35% 97% 60% 88% 53% 68% 60%81% Y470A 61% 6% 48% 67% 29% 29% 16% 15% 97% 92% 68% I471A 17% 7% 20%20% 22% 25% 12% 17% 43% 55% 35% A472G 37% 20% 84% 75% 46% 31% 19% 0% 60%76% 60% P475A 72% 73% 34% 57% 15% 59% 16% 60% 40% 70% 38% A476G 75% 110%207% 26% 67% 47% 35% 24% 122% 115% 32% L477A 54% 92% 25% 42% 26% 43% 16%15% 67% 71% 52% A478G 80% 96% 134% 24% 63% 41% 98% 33% 84% 66% 58% Y479A114% 250% 108% 117% 71% 82% 21% 58% 110% 94% 138%

As shown in Table 9, substitution Y470A, I471A, A472G, P475A, A476G, orL477A reduces the T cell response by 70% or more as compared to theresponse to WT peptide.

TABLE 10 (SEQ ID NO: 81) % from WT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 No 13% 14% 7% 0% 1%0% 1% 2% peptide WT51 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% R421A 22%12% 26% 23% 87% 2% 5% 19% L422A 31% 10% 16% 29% 18% 0% 1% 30% L423A 8%10% 6% 47% 21% 11% 3% 7% A425G 57% 16% 68% 105% 51% 4% 6% 112% R427A 37%10% 35% 78% 81% 1% 2% 54% L429A 28% 19% 124% 63% 64% 38% 36% 163% E430A112% 26% 99% 100% 100% 242% 73% 112% R432A 65% 57% 142% 105% 92% 87% 69%228%

As shown in Table 10, substitution R421A, L422A L423A, A425G, R427A, orL429A reduces the T cell response by 70% or more as compared to theresponse to WT peptide.

Example 12

This example demonstrates that the substitutions Y439A, H440A, F443A,L444A, A446G, A447A, I450A, R551A, L552A, T554A, I555A, L556A or W558A,as defined by reference to SEQ ID NO: 1, reduce immunogenicity of PE.

An 18-mer peptide (GPEEEGGRLETILGWPLA) (SEQ ID NO:198) was synthesizedto include amino acid residues from both SEQ ID NOs: 123 and 124. An18-mer peptide (FVGYHGTFLEAAQSIVFG) (SEQ ID NO: 199) was synthesized toinclude amino acid residues from both SEQ ID NOs: 87 and 88. SEQ ID NO:198 corresponds to amino acid residue positions 544-561 of SEQ ID NO: 1,and SEQ ID NO: 199 corresponds to amino acid residue positions 436-453of SEQ ID NO: 1. Each amino acid in SEQ ID NO: 198 and 199 wassubstituted with alanine. Samples from donors and patients werestimulated with LMB9 for 17 days and assayed using IL-2 ELISpot asdescribed in Example 3. Table 11 (SEQ ID NO: 198) and Table 12 (SEQ IDNO: 199) summarize the data (% of the response to wild-type (WT)peptide) from screening the samples against the substituted peptides.

TABLE 11 % from WT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 No peptide 9% 2% 3% 4% 3% 35% 25% WT93-94 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% E547A 18% 254% 73% 120% 122%73% 106% E548A 24% 170% 58% 98% 86% 102% 207% R551A 6% 2% 62% 70% 42%40% 67% L552A 44% 10% 54% 35% 11% 85% 51% T554A 9% 5% 77% 133% 130% 110%95% I555A 176% 119% 111% 25% 15% 63% 36% L556A 235% 3% 24% 10% 13% 35%83% W558A 200% 13% 20% 26% 7% 46% 54% P559A 197% 208% 24% 69% 37% 65%121% L560A 321% 162% 81% 132% 117% 46% 138%

As shown in Table 11, substitution R551A, L552A, T554A, I555A, L556A andW558A reduces the T cell response by 70% or more as compared to theresponse to WT peptide.

TABLE 12 % from WT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 No peptide 0% 4% 0% 0% 1% 2%10% 9% 0% 1% 18% WT 57-58 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%100% 100% F436A 98% 7% 57% 159% 89% 67% 41% 123% 103% 103% 94% V437A 78%81% 84% 130% 96% 77% 102% 148% 97% 95% 103% G438A 52% 79% 67% 78% 118%81% 98% 68% 71% 88% 97% Y439A 96% 17% 22% 21% 125% 88% 110% 154% 79% 97%111% H440A 12% 6% 11% 95% 108% 80% 90% 102% 46% 113% 105% T442A 84% 31%77% 151% 93% 77% 59% 127% 48% 102% 79% F443A 0% 7% 2% 40% 1% 13% 20% 7%5% 2% 17% L444A 54% 140% 69% 74% 55% 11% 14% 0% 9% 4% 32% A446G 40% 119%80% 47% 107% 97% 69% 16% 80% 37% 120% A447G 104% 103% 65% 57% 118% 73%43% 7% 19% 28% 98% S449A 126% 104% 98% 93% 128% 116% 163% 200% 23% 65%87% I450A 159% 124% 138% 130% 108% 42% 31% 11% 2% 66% 20% V451A 127%121% 119% 162% 142% 94% 137% 50% 82% 117% 119% F452A 126% 156% 119% 154%103% 169% 104% 123% 99% 104% 116%

As shown in Table 12, substitution Y439A, H440A, F443A, L444A, A446G,A447A, or I450A reduces the T cell response by 70% or more as comparedto the response to WT peptide.

Example 13

This example demonstrates the identification of T-cell epitopes in PE.

Based on the results obtained in Examples 4-12, the amino acid sequencesset forth in Table 13 were identified as T-cell epitopes of PE.

TABLE 13 SEQ ID Amino acid residues with NO: reference to SEQ ID NO: 1Sequence 200 276-287 RQPRGWEQLEQC 3 294-305 LVALYLAARLSW 193 421-432RLLQAHRQLEER 199 436-453 FVGYHGTFLEAAQSIVFG 192 469-480 FYIAGDPALAYG 201493-510 IRNGALLRVYVPRSSLPG 202 547-560 EEGGRLETILGWPL

Examples 14-16

The following materials and methods were used for Examples 14-16:

Patient's Whole Blood Sample Collection, Storage, and RNA Isolation:

Blood samples were obtained from 6 patients who were treated withrecombinant immunotoxins (RITs). 2.5 ml blood samples were collected inPAXGENE tubes containing a cationic detergent and additive salts(PreAnalytiX GmbH, Hombrechtikon, Switzerland), mixed thoroughly byinverting the tube gently 4-6 times and incubated at room temperature 10hours, and then stored at −80° C. Intracellular RNA from patient's wholeblood samples was purified using the PAXGENE Blood RNA Kit (PreAnalytiX)according to the manufacturer's instructions and stored at −80° C.

Heavy Chain and Light Chain cDNA Synthesis, PCR Amplification andAssembly of scFv Genes:

A restriction enzyme site or vector linker was connected (Table 15) tosome primers. Heavy chain repertoires and light chain repertoires wereprepared separately and connected with a linker to provide ScFvformation. Heavy chain repertoires were prepared from IgG having matureB lymphocytes. The first-strand cDNA synthesis was performed by using afirst-strand cDNA synthesis kit (GE Healthcare, NJ) with an IgG constantregion primer: HuIgG1-4CH1FOR (Table 15). Light chain repertoires wereprepared from Vκ genes using a κ constant region primer: HuGκFOR (Table15). 40 pmol primers were added into 15 reaction mixture for cDNAsynthesis.

V_(H) and Vκ genes were amplified separately by a three-step processusing the first-strand cDNA synthesis production. The IgG constantregion primer: HuIgG1-4CH1FOR and an equimolar mixture of theappropriate family-based human V_(H) back primers (Table 15) were usedat the first-step PCR to cover the V_(H) gene in the intracellular RNAfrom patient's whole blood samples. A κ constant region primer: HuGκFORand the appropriate family based human Vκ back primers (Table 15) wereused for the Vκ gene. First-step PCR was carried out using high-fidelitypolymerase PHUSION (New England Biolabs, Ipswich, Mass.) in a finalvolume of 500 reaction mixture with 10 pmol of each primer according tothe manufacturer's recommendation.

High-fidelity polymerase PRIMESTAR (Takara, Kyoto, Japan) was used forthe second step PCR, Splicing by Overlapping Extension (SOE) PCR, andthe last step for insert preparation with 10 pmol of each primeraccording to the manufacturer's recommendation. The sequence of 5′-GCCCAG CCG GCC ATG GCC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 185) including an NcoI site(underlined) was connected to human V_(H) back primers for human V_(H)back nco primers (Table 15). The pCANTAB vector was used for phagelibrary construction. The sequence of 5′-ACC TCC AGA TCC GCC ACC ACC GGATCC GCC TCC GCC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 186) including a pCANTAB linker wasconnected to human J_(H) forward primers for human J_(H) forward linkerprimers. Human V_(H) back nco primers and human J_(H) forward linkerprimers were used in the second PCR to add a Nco I site at the back ofthe V_(H) gene and a pCANTAB linker forward of the V_(H) gene.

At the second step for amplifying the Vκ gene, the sequence of 5′-GGATCC GGT GGT GGC GGA TCT GGA GGT GGC GGA AGC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 187)including a pCANTAB linker was connected to human Vκ back primers forhuman Vκ back linker primers. The sequence of 5′-GAG TCA TTC TCG ACT TGCGGC CGC-3′ (SEQ ID NO: 184) including a NotI site (double under lined)was connected to human Jκ forward primers for human Jκ forward Notprimers. Human Vκ back primers and human Jκ forward primers were used atthe second PCR to add a Not I site forward and a pCANTAB linker at theback of Vκ gene.

V_(H) and Vκ genes were prepared at the third step separately using (a)the primer pair of human V_(H) back Nco primers and a pCANTAB linkerprimer of R′ linker (Table 15) for the V_(H) gene, and (b) the primerpair of human Jκ forward not primers and a pCANTAB linker primer of theF′ linker (Table 15) for the Vκ gene.

The primers of R′ linker and F′ linker which were used at the third stepwere complementary primers. V_(H) and Vκ genes were combined to providea ScFv formation using SOE-PCR. Finally, the ScFv library fragment wasamplified using the primers of VHIgGFOR and VLREV (Table 15) for insertpreparation.

Phage Library Construction:

The amplified ScFv fragment was digested with NcoI and NotI, andsubcloned into pCANTAB 5E digested with the same enzymes to constructScFv library using T4 ligase. The ligation solution was purified byextraction with QIAQUICK spin column (Qiagen, Valencia, Calif.), andresuspended in water. The resulting concentration was approximately 50ng/ml. 4 μl samples were electroporated into 50 μl TG1 electrocompetentcells (Lucigen, WI) by using a gene pulser and pulse controller unit(Bio-Rad Laboratories) and repeated 6 times for a large sized library.Cells were incubated in 6 ml of SOC (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) for 1hr at 37° C. with shaking at approximately 250 rpm. A 20 μl sample wascollected, diluted, and plated on a TYE ampicillin plate to calculatethe library size. 2YT medium in an amount of 6 ml with 200 μg/mlampicillin and 4% glucose was added and incubated another 1 hr. Themedium was made up to 200 ml with 2YT medium with 100 mg/ml ampicillinand 2% glucose. Cells were grown OD₆₀₀=0.4 and infected by 10¹¹ pfuM13K07 helper phage (New England Biolaboratories) with shaking at 250rpm for 30 min after standing 30 min. Cells were collected for 5 min at5,000 rpm in a GSA rotor and resuspended in 2YT medium in an amount of100 ml with 100 μg/ml ampicillin and 50 μg/ml kanamycin overnight at 30°C. with shaking at 250 rpm.

The phages were precipitated from the supernatant with ⅕ volume ofPEG/NaCl (20% polyethylene glycol 6000, 2.5 M NaCl) and resuspended with2YT medium. The titer of phage library was determined by making serialdilutions of 10 μl of phage and adding 90 μl of TG1 cells, OD₆₀₀=0.4,plated on LB agar supplemented with 100 μg/ml of Amp and 1% glucose. Thenumber of colonies was determined after overnight growth, and the titerwas calculated.

Phage Library Panning:

LMB-9 (B3(dsFv)—PE38, specific for a LewisY antigen) was used as antigenfor phage library panning. LMB9 was biotinylated using EZ-Linksulfo-NHS-Biotin (Thermo Scientific, Rockford, Ill.) at a molar ratio of50:1, and the number of biotin groups on each LMB9—biotin was determinedusing the biotin quantitation kit (Thermo Scientific, Rockford, Ill.) inaccordance with the manufacturer's instructions. 350 ml phage andstreptavidin modified magnetic beads (DYNABEADS MYONE Streptavidin T1,diameter 1 μm, binding capacity of biotinylated Ig 40-50 μg mg⁻¹,hydrophobic, tosyl activated beads (Invitrogen)) were pre-blocked in 3%BSA/PBST (0.1% tween-20). Phage was applied to de-selection with beads.

A magnetic rack was used to separate the beads from the liquid phasecausing the beads to become immobilized along the side of the tube. Theblocking buffer was removed, and beads were resuspended in phagesolution and incubated at room temperature on rotor for 30 min. Phagesolution was moved to another tube with pre-blocked beads for additionalde-selection. De-selection was repeated with 1 mg beads for two timesand 2 mg beads one time. Phage was moved to a pre-blocked tube, andbiotinylated LMB9-biotin antigen was added to allow phage-antigen-biotincomplexes to form with LMB9-biotin in an amount of 10 μg for thefirst-round and 5 μg for subsequent rounds. Reaction solution wasincubated at room temperature on rotor for 2 hr and removed to a tubewith 2 mg beads for an additional 45 min incubation on rotor. Thesupernatant was removed, and beads were washed 12 times by using PBST.Phage was released from beads by the addition of cold 0.1 M HCl in anamount of 1 μl, and the pH was neutralized with 200 μl Tris-HCl solution(pH 8.0). This is the output of panning, and it was rescued foradditional panning rounds, and the titer calculated. The output phage inan amount of 0.6 μl was used to infect 5 ml TG1 (OD600=0.4) for rescue.

Phage ELISA and Phage Clone Sequencing:

Following three or four rounds of panning and phage rescue, 198 singleclones from the final round of panning were selected for furtheranalysis. A signal clone was removed to a round-bottom 96-well platewith 150 μl 2YT medium (100 μg/ml ampicillin, 2% glucose) for 4 hr at37° C. with shaking at 250 rpm, and 10⁸ pfu M13K07 help phage in 50 μl2YT medium (100 μg/ml ampicillin, 2% glucose) was added into the wellwith shaking at 250 rpm for 30 min after standing 30 min. Cells werecollected by 2700 rpm for 10 min with inserts for 96-well plates andresuspended in 2YT medium in an amount of 200 μl with 100 μg/mlampicillin and 50μ/ml kanamycin overnight at 30° C. with shaking at 250rpm. The pellet was resuspended with 100 μl 2YT medium with 100 μg/mlampicillin, 2% glucose, and 30% glycerol and stored at −80° C. forstock. The phages were precipitated from the supernatant for phage ELISAby 2700 rpm for 10 min. A 96-well flat bottom NUNC MAXISORP plate (NuncUSA, Rochester, N.Y.) was coated with LMB9 (5 μg/ml in PBS) overnight at4° C. The plate was washed and blocked with 2% nonfat milk (cellsignaling). The supernatant with phage (50 μl) and 2% milk (50 μl) wereadded and incubated for 1 hr at room temperature. The plate was washed 3times with PBST, and the peroxidase-conjugated anti-M13 (1:1000, GEHealthcare, Waukesha, Wis.) was added for 1 hr at room temperature. Theplate was washed 3 times with Phosphate Buffered Saline and Tween 20(PBST), and 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) substrate (ThermoScientific, Rockford, Ill.) was added for 15 min. The results were readin a spectrophotometer at 450 nm to determine the positive and negativeclones. The positive clone was picked up for small-scale phage isolationfrom the appropriate well of stock plate, and the sequencing wasperformed by using BIGDYE Terminator v1.1 Cycle Sequencing Kit (AppliedBiosystems, Foster City, Calif.). The clones with the same sequence wereremoved, and the resulting sequences were aligned with the IMGT/V-Quest(<www.imgt.org/IMGT_vquest/vquest>).

Competition ICC-ELISA:

The phage-antibody was made with the above mentioned method with a 20 mlscale culture. The dilution of phage-antibody was determined with ELISA.SS1P antibody 50 μl/well, 1 μg/ml in 2% nonfat milk, was added to ELISAplates coated overnight at 4° C. with rFc-mesothelin in an amount of 50μl/well at a concentration of 4 μg/ml in PBS. The plate was washed 3times with PBST; phage-antibody with various dilutions was added anddetected by using HRP-conjugated anti-M13 and TMB substrate. Thedilution of phage-antibody was determined by a dilution curve, and thedesired A450 was set at about 1.0. A competition ICC-ELISA assay wasconducted to determine the phage-antibody-binding epitope of the PE38antigen by using patient serum, PE38 without Fv, or the signal mutationin PE38. The phage-antibody was mixed with serial dilutions of thesingle mutant overnight at 4° C. and added to SS1P-rFc-Mesothelincombination ELISA plate. The competition of the single mutant for thebinding of phage-antibody to SS1P was determined by measuring theremaining binding of phage-antibody using HRP-conjugated anti-M13. Thecompetition effect was normalized to the binding to HA22-LR in whichPE38 lacked a substitution.

Serum Antigenicity:

The binding of HA22 or substituted HA22 to antibodies in human sera wasanalyzed in a displacement assay. Human sera were obtained underprotocol 1000066. Mesothelin-rFc was added to the ELISA plate (100 ng in50 μl PBS/well) and incubated overnight 4° C. After washing, anantimesothelin/SS1P (100 ng in 50 μl blocking buffer/well) was added for1 h to capture unbound human anti-PE38 antibodies. In separate tubes,sera (97- to 30658-fold dilutions) was mixed with 2 μg/ml of HA22 orsubstituted HA22 and incubated overnight at 4° C. After washing theplate, 50 μl of immunotoxin-antibody mixtures were transferred to eachwell. The human antibodies not bound to HA22 or substituted HA22 werecaptured by SS1P and detected by HRP-conjugated rabbit anti-human IgG Fc(Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories, West Grove, Pa.), followed by TMBsubstrate kit (Thermo Scientific Inc., Waltham, Mass.). Binding curveswere fitted using a four-parametric logistic curve model by SoftMaxPro4.0 (Molecular Devices). The IC₅₀ values indicate the concentration ofRIT that inhibit 50% of the antibody reactivity with SS1P.

Statistics:

Mann-Whitney nonparametric method was used; p<0.05 was consideredstatistically significant.

Example 14

This example demonstrates the isolation and sequencing of human ScFvspecific for PE38.

Blood samples were obtained from 6 patients who were treated withdifferent recombinant immunotoxins (RITs) containing PE38 (Table 14).RNA was isolated from blood samples using PAXGENE Blood RNA Kits(PreAnalytiX GmbH, Hombrechtikon, Switzerland). First strand cDNA wassynthesized from RNA using primers with the appropriate constant region(Table 15). Single bands of the correct size for V_(H) and Vκ cDNA wereobtained by using first strand cDNA as template. V_(H) and V_(L)fragments were amplified individually in three steps. Restriction enzymesite and linker were added into the fragment. 100 ng of the V_(H) andV_(L) fragments were combined in a Splicing by Overlapping ExtensionPolymerase Chain Reaction (SOE-PCR) for scFv formation. The scFvfragment was digested with Nco I and Not I, and subcloned into pCANTAB5E digested with the same enzymes to construct a scFv library.

TABLE 14 Rate of positive Library size × Phage clone 10⁸ library afterDNA Used independent size × fourth sequence Independent Library DiseaseRITs clone 10¹³ fpu/ml round analysis clone L1 ATL LMB2 1.08 2.35174/188 170 14 L2 HCL HA22 1.27 2.3 177/188 176 20 L6 HCL BL22 1.15 2.44 14/211 14 3 L7 Pleural Mesothelioma SS1P 1.05 2.06 172/190 172 4 L8Pleural Mesothelioma SS1P 0.73 2.15  98/190 98 63 L9 Lung cancer SS1P0.86 2.29  80/190 80 2 Total: 710 103

TABLE 15 SEQ ID NO: First-strand cDNA synthesisHuman heavy chain constant region primer 146 HuIgG1-4CH1FOR 5′GTC CAC CTT GGT GTT GCT GGG CTT 3′ Human κ constant region primer 147HuGκFOR 5′ AGA CTC TCC CCT GTT GAA GCT CTT 3′ First-step PCRHuman VH back primers 148 HuVH1aBACK 5′CAG GTG CAG CTG GTG CAG TCT GG 3′ 149 HuVH2aBACK 5′CAG GTC AAC TTA AGG GAG TCT GG 3′ 150 HuVH3aBACK 5′GAG GTG CAG CTG GTG GAG TCT GG 3′ 151 HuVH4aBACK 5′CAG GTG CAG CTG CAG GAG TCG GG 3′ 152 HuVH5aBACK 5′GAG GTG CAG CTG TTG CAG TCT GC 3′ 153 HuVH6aBACK 5′CAG GTA CAG CTG CAG CAG TCA GG 3′ Human Vκ back primers 154 HuVκ1aBACK 5′ GAC ATC CAG ATG ACC CAG TCT CC 3′ 155 HuVκ 2aBACK 5′GAT GTT GTG ATG ACT CAG TCT CC 3′ 156 HuVκ 3aBACK 5′GAA ATT GTG TTG ACG CAG TCT CC 3′ 157 HuVκ 4aBACK 5′GAC ATC GTG ATG ACC CAG TCT CC 3′ 158 HuVκ 5aBACK 5′GAA ACG ACA CTC ACG CAG TCT CC 3′ 159 HuVκ 6aBACK 5′GAA ATT GTG CTG ACT CAG TCT CC 3′ Second-step PCRHuman V_(H) back Nco primers 160 HuVH1aBACKnco 5′GCC CAG CCG GCC ATG GCC CAG GTG CAG CTG GTG CAG TCT GG 3′ 161HuVH2aBACKnco 5′ GCC CAG CCG GCC ATG GCC CAG GTC AAC TTAAGG GAG TCT GG 3′ 162 HuVH3aBACKnco 5′GCC CAG CCG GCC ATG GCC GAG GTG CAG CTG GTG GAG TCT GG 3′ 163HuVH4aBACKnco 5′ GCC CAG CCG GCC ATG GCC CAG GTG CAG CTGCAG GAG TCG GG 3′ 164 HuVH5aBACKnco 5′GCC CAG CCG GCC ATG GCC GAG GTG CAG CTG TTG CAG TCT GC 3′ 165HuVH6aBACKnco 5′ GCC CAG CCG GCC ATG GCC CAG GTA CAG CTGCAG CAG TCA GG 3′ Human J_(H) forward linker primers 166linkerHuJH12FOR 5′ ACC TCC AGA TCC GCC ACC ACC GGA TCC GCCTCC GCC TGA GGA GAC GGT GAC CAG GGT GCC 3′ 167 linkerHuJH3FOR 5′ACC TCC AGA TCC GCC ACC ACC GGA TCC GCCTCC GCC TGA AGA GAC GGT GAC CAT TGT CCC 3′ 168 linkerHulH45FOR 5′ACC TCC AGA TCC GCC ACC ACC GGA TCC GCCTCC GCC TGA GGA GAC GGT GAC CAG GGT TCC 3′ 169 linkerHuJH6FOR 5′ACC TCC AGA TCC GCC ACC ACC GGA TCC GCCTCC GCC TGA GGA GAC GGT GAC CGT GGT CCC 3′ Human Vκ back linker primers170 linkerHuVκ 1 aBACK 5′ GGA TCC GGT GGT GGC GGA TCT GGA GGT GGCGGA AGC GAC ATC CAG ATG ACC CAG TCT CC 3′ 171 linkerHuVκ 2aBACK 5′GGA TCC GGT GGT GGC GGA TCT GGA GGT GGCGGA AGC GAT GTT GTG ATG ACT CAG TCT CC 3′ 172 linkerHuVκ 3aBACK 5′GGA TCC GGT GGT GGC GGA TCT GGA GGT GGCGGA AGC GAA ATT GTG TTG ACG CAG TCT CC 3′ 173 linkerHuVκ 4aBACK 5′GGA TCC GGT GGT GGC GGA TCT GGA GGT GGCGGA AGC GAC ATC GTG ATG ACC CAG TCT CC 3′ 174 linkerHuVκ 5aBACK 5′GGA TCC GGT GGT GGC GGA TCT GGA GGT GGCGGA AGC GAA ACG ACA CTC ACG CAG TCT CC 3′ 175 linkerHuVκ 6aBACK 5′GGA TCC GGT GGT GGC GGA TCT GGA GGT GGCGGA AGC GAA ATT GTG CTG ACT CAG TCT CC 3′ Human Jκ forward not primers176 HuJκ BACKNot 5′ GAG TCA TTC TCG ACT TGC GGC CGC ACG TTT GATTTC CAC CTT GGT CCC 3′ 177 HuJκ 2BACKNot 5′GAG TCA TTC TCG ACT TGC GGC CGC ACG TTT GAT CTC CAG CTT GGT CCC 3′ 178HuJκ 3BACKNot 5′ GAG TCA TTC TCG ACT TGC GGC CGC ACG TTT GATATC CAC TTT GGT CCC 3′ 179 HuJκ 4BACKNot 5′GAG TCA TTC TCG ACT TGC GGC CGC ACG TTT GAT CTC CAC CTT GGT CCC 3′ 180HuJκ 5BACKNot 5′ GAG TCA TTC TCG ACT TGC GGC CGC ACG TTT AATCTC CAG TCG TGT CCC 3′ Third-step PCR 181 R′linker 5′GCT TCC GCC ACC TCC AGA TCC GCC ACC ACC GGA TCC GCC TCC GCC 3′ 182F′linker 5′ GGC GGA GGC GGA TCC GGT GGT GGC GGA TCT GGA GGT GGCGGA AGC 3′ ScFv fragment preparation 183 VHIgGFOR 5′GTC CTC GCA ACT GCG GCC CAG CCG GCC ATG GCC 3′ 184 VLREV 5′GAG TCA TTC TCG ACT TGC GGC CGC 3′

Biotinylated immunotoxin LMB-9 (B3-Fv-PE38) was used as the antigen forselection of phage expressing Fvs that bound to PE38. Each LMB-9molecule contained 6 biotins. 6 human antibody libraries were obtainedby electroporations into Escherichia coli (E. coli.) TG1 containing7.3×10⁷-1.27×10⁸ VH-VL scFv clones (Table 15). The phage library wasrescued by superinfection with helper phage (Table 15), and 350 ml ofeach library obtained about 7×10¹² scFv fragments displayed on thesurface of phage.

710 Fv containing phage clones were obtained and sequenced. Sequencingrevealed that there were 103 unique human heavy chain and human kappalight chain sequences present except for 2 clones that had the samelight chain sequence. To show that the Fvs were derived from B cellsmaking anti-immunotoxin antibodies, competition studies were performedand showed that immune anti-sera blocked the binding of the phage to thePE38 portion of LMB-9, and none of the clones bound to the Fv portion ofthe immunotoxin. The strength of binding was then measured using anICC-ELISA. 47 clones had weak binding and were not studied further. Theother 56 clones were used to determine the human-specific epitopes inPE38.

Example 15

This example demonstrates the location of human B cell epitopes.

LMB-9 contains both domains II and III of PE. To identify the phagewhich only binds to domain III, the binding of each clone to HA22-LR,which only had domain III and lacks domain II, was measured. Fifteen ofthe 56 phage clones could not bind to HA22-LR, indicating that theepitopes recognized by these 15 phage clones were located on domain II.The remaining 41 phage clones were used to identify the residues thatmake up the B-cell epitopes in domain III by measuring their binding tosubstituted proteins in which individual amino acids on the surface ofdomain III of the protein were changed from a large bulky amino acid toalanine or glycine. These substitutions eliminated the large bulky sidechains that are involved in antibody recognition and binding. The dataare shown in FIG. 10 where clones with poor binding (<10%) are shown inblack cells, and substituted proteins with normal reactivity are shownwith blank cells. The results show that a single substitution decreasedthe binding of many clones, thereby indicating that they are in the sameepitope group.

The location of residues that, when substituted, reduced phage bindingby >90% to various epitopes are shown in Table 16. Amino acidsassociated with each human (H1, H2, H3, H4, H5 and H6) and mouse (2c,4a, 4b, 5,6a, 6b, and 7) epitope are shown in Table 16. Human epitope H1contained D403, R427, and E431. R427 and E431 belonged to mouse epitope4a, and these residues were involved in both mouse and human antibodybinding. Human epitope H2 contained residues R467 and D463, whichbelonged to mouse epitope 2c, and E548 which belonged to mouse epitope6a. Y481, L516, E522, and R551 were human specific epitopes. Human H3epitope contained only R458 that belonged to mouse epitope 4b. Humanepitope H4 contained R432 and R505. R432 belonged to mouse epitope 4aand R505 was a human specific residue. Human epitope H5 was composed ofR490 and R576, which belonged to mouse epitope 5. Human epitope H6included R538. R538 belongs to mouse epitope 2c. D406, R412, R513, L597,Q592, and K590 were mouse specific epitopes and not involved in humanepitope binding.

TABLE 16 Human epitopes H1 D403, R427, E431 H2 R551, E548, L516, E522,D463, D461, Y481, R467 H3 R458 H4 R505, R432 H5 R490, R576 H6 R538 Mouseepitopes 2c D463, R467, R538 4a R427, E431, R432 4b R406, R458 5 R412,R490, R576 6a L597, R513, E548 6b Q592 7 K590

Phage clones reacting with epitope H1 were affected by substitutions atresidues D403, R427, and E431. A substitution of any of these residueswith alanine greatly affected the binding of many phages that recognizedthe epitope (FIG. 10). As expected for substitutions that make up anepitope, these residues were spatially adjacent on domain III. EpitopeH2 was complex. The phages reacting with epitope H2 were affected bysubstitutions at 8 residues. Substituting R467 with alanine destroyedbinding of six of the eight phages that defined epitope H2. Substitutingresidue D463 prevented the binding of four phages, substituting Y481prevented the binding of three phages, substituting R551 prevented thebinding of two phages and, and substituting residues D461, L516, E522,or E548 prevented the binding of one phage. Structurally, these residuesresided in a restricted area and made up a cluster. Epitope H3 wasrecognized by 2 phages that bind to R458. Epitope H4 was recognized by11 phages and binding was destroyed by a R505A substitution. Asubstitution at R432, which was close to R505, affected the binding of 1of the 11 phages. Epitope H5 was recognized by 4 phages. Binding to allfour was affected by a substitution at R490 and a substitution at R576affected binding of three of four phages. These residues were spatiallyadjacent on domain III, even though they were separated by 86 aminoacids in the sequence. A substitution at R538 eliminated binding of oneof two phages. In summary, substituting highly exposed surface residueswith alanine identified the residues that bind to the phages that bindto domain III, showing that the epitopes were located at distinct siteson the surface of domain III.

Example 16

This example demonstrates the production of a low antigenic recombinantimmunotoxin (RIT) for humans.

The identification of individual residues that were involved in bindingto human antisera was used to design and construct immunotoxins withsubstitutions that eliminated reactivity with the human anti-sera yetretained cytotoxic activity and could be produced in sufficient amountsto be useful. In most cases, residues were replaced with alanine,because its small side chain reacts poorly with antibodies and itusually does not affect protein folding. Serine was also used tosubstantially avoid an especially hydrophobic surface.

Based on the information in the epitope mapping studies, substitutionsselected from the different amino acids that destroyed the binding ofthe human Fvs to domain III of HA22-LR were combined. The substitutionsare shown in Table 17 below. LR05 had all the substitutions present inHA22-LR-8M and 4 new substitutions, LR06 had only 2 substitutions fromHA22-LR-8M and 4 new substitutions, and LO10 was like LR06 but had anadditional 463A substitution (Table 17).

TABLE 17 LO5: 406A, 432G, 467A, 490A, 513A, 548S, 590S, 592A, 8MSUBSTITUTION 427A, 505A, 538A, 458A human epitope LO6: 467A, 490A, human& mice 427A, 505A, 538A, 458A human epitope LO10: 467A, 490A, 427A,505A, 538A, 458A, 463A LR-LO10R: 467A, 490A, 427A, 505A, 538A, 463A

TABLE 18 Substituted Substituted residue in domain III Yield ActivityProtein 406 427 432 458 463 467 490 505 513 538 548 590 592 (mg) (%)LR-8M X X X X X X X X 100 LO5 X X X X X X X X X X X X 3 16 LO6 X X X X XX 4.3 41 LO10 X X X X X X X 3 60 LR-LO10R X X X X X X 5.8 141

The substituted proteins were expressed and purified. SDS gel analysisshowed that the substituted proteins were more than 95% homogeneous. Thepurified proteins were then analyzed for cytotoxic activity on severalCD22 positive cell lines and for antigenicity in terms of their abilityto bind to antibodies present in the serum of patients who had madeneutralizing antibodies to immunotoxins containing PE38. 25 sera frompatients who had received several different immunotoxins (LMB-9, SS1Pand HA22) were analyzed.

The data in Table 19 show that all 3 new immunotoxins were active onCD22 positive lymphoma lines with an IC₅₀ around 1 ng/ml, but lessactive than HA22-LR. The most active was HA22-LO10, which was 60% asactive as HA22-LR on Daudi cells, 27% as active on Raji cells, and 29%as active on CA46 cells. These new immunotoxins were CD22 specific andhad no activity on the A431 cells that do not express CD22 (Table 19).

TABLE 19 IC₅₀ (ng/ml) HA22-LR HA22-LO5 HA22-LO6 HA22-LO10 Raji 0.41 3.742.23 1.5 (27%) CA46 0.11 2.08 0.53 0.38 (29%)  Daudi 0.18 1.25 0.57 0.3(60%) A431 >100 >100 >100 >100 (0%)  

Antigenicity is defined as the binding of immunogens to preexistingantibodies. To assess the antigenicity of the substituted HA22-LO withhuman patient sera, competition experiments were carried out in whichthe concentration of each of the substituted immunotoxins that reducedthe level of antibodies reacting with HA22 by 50% was measured. Typicalcompetition results with two patient sera are shown in FIGS. 11A and11B. FIG. 11A shows that the concentration of HA22, HA22-LR, HA22-LO5,HA22-LO6, HA22-LR-8M, and HA22-LO10 at which binding to PE38 wasinhibited by 50% (IC₅₀) was 84.8, 38.1, 4580, 1440, 3610, >396000 nM,respectively. The binding (IC₅₀) ratio of HA22 to HA22-LR, HA22-LO5,HA22-LO6, HA22-LR-8M, and HA22-LO10 was 223, 1.85, 5.89, 2.35, and<0.0214%, respectively. FIG. 11B shows that the concentration of HA22,HA22-LR, HA22-LO5, HA22-LO6, HA22-LR-8M, and HA22-LO10 at which bindingto PE38 was inhibited by 50% (IC₅₀) was 50.9,67700, >396000, >396000, >396000, >396000 nM, respectively. The binding(IC₅₀) ratio of HA22 to HA22-LR, HA22-LO5, HA22-LO6, HA22-LR-8M, andHA22-LO10 was 0.752, <0.0129, <0.0129, <0.0129, and <0.0129%.

Overall sera from 32 patients who were treated for more than 10 yearswith PE38 containing immunotoxins SS1P, HA22, and LMB9 were analyzed.The binding ratios using the substituted immunotoxins are shown in Table20. It was found that the antigenicity of HA22-LR-LO10 with human serawas substantially reduced compared to HA22, HA22-LR, and HA22-LR8M. FIG.12 is a graph showing percent binding of antibodies to HA22, HA22-LR-8M,HA22-LRLO10, or HA22-LR-LO10R in the sera of patients treated usingPE38. HA22-LR-LO10R is similar to HA22-LO10 except that HA22-LR-LO10Rlacks the R458A substitution that is present in HA22-LO10 (Tables 17 and18). FIG. 12 shows that twenty-three of thirty-two patients demonstratedbinding (antigenicity) that was reduced by more than 100-fold(100-10000-fold). Only in four of the thirty-two patients could adecrease in antigenicity not be detected.

TABLE 20 Pa- Binding (%) tient ITs Dilution HA22 LR LO10 LO10R 1 BL221192 100 1.2072 0.0118 0.0241 2 BL22 2057 100 372.4138 493.15073000.0000 3 BL22 1231 100 528.0992 358.9888 1228.8462 4 BL22 9485 100202.3988 431.3099 2947.5983 5 BL22 4187 100 5.9797 0.0021 0.0031 6 BL221430 100 2.2597 0.0016 0.0033 7 BL22 6673 100 50.1718 0.0057 <0.00147 8SS1P 1698 100 <0.00187 <0.00187 <0.00187 9 SS1P 26789 100 <0.0289<0.0289 <0.0289 10 SS1P 3876 100 <0.00686 <0.00686 <0.00686 11 HA22 962100 <0.00194 <0.00194 <0.00194 12 HA22 10127 100 0.0219 <0.00120<0.00120 13 HA22 1093 100 0.4298 0.0056 <0.00555 14 LMB9 38802 100191.2500 0.0031 382.5000 15 SS1P 121598 100 0.0034 <0.00274 0.0060 16SS1P 379861 100 0.4770 <0.00247 0.0047 17 SS1P 269987 100 0.0433 0.00190.0026 18 SS1P 63115 100 0.0040 <0.00272 <0.00272 19 SS1P 12938 100<0.0623 <0.0623 <0.0623 20 SS1P 132398 100 <0.00583 <0.00583 0.0093 21SS1P 10634 100 <0.00293 <0.00293 <0.00293 22 SS1P 17989 100 <0.00893<0.00893 <0.00893 23 SS1P 20184 100 <0.0359 <0.0359 <0.0359 24 SS1P29387 100 <0.00185 <0.00185 0.0019 25 SS1P 77031 100 <0.00755 <0.00755<0.00755 26 SS1P 131839 100 <0.0133 <0.0133 <0.0133 27 SS1P 23165 10030.4545 12.6415 26.5347 28 SS1P 1792 100 17.8081 113.0324 40.1708 29SS1P 12443 100 <0.00721 <0.00721 <0.00721 30 SS1P 12873 100 <63.3 <63.3<63.3 31 SS1P 4793 100 100.0000 100.0000 100.0000 32 SS1P 443961 10041.5094 9.1667 36.3208 Less 100 59 75 72 reac- tive sera (%)

All references, including publications, patent applications, andpatents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the sameextent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicatedto be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entiretyherein.

The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in thecontext of describing the invention (especially in the context of thefollowing claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and theplural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted bycontext. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing”are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, butnot limited to,”) unless otherwise noted. Recitation of ranges of valuesherein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referringindividually to each separate value falling within the range, unlessotherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated intothe specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methodsdescribed herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwiseindicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The useof any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”)provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the inventionand does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unlessotherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construedas indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice ofthe invention.

Preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein, includingthe best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention.Variations of those preferred embodiments may become apparent to thoseof ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. Theinventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations asappropriate, and the inventors intend for the invention to be practicedotherwise than as specifically described herein. Accordingly, thisinvention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subjectmatter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicablelaw. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in allpossible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unlessotherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A Pseudomonas exotoxin A (PE) comprisingthe amino acid sequence of Formula I:FCS-R¹ _(m)—R² _(p)—R³ _(n)-PE functional domain III   (Formula I),wherein: m, n, and p are, independently, 0 or 1; FCS comprises a furincleavage amino acid sequence; R¹ comprises 1 or more continuous aminoacid residues of residues 285-293 of SEQ ID NO: 1; R² comprisesX₁VAX₂X₃X₄AAX₅LSW (SEQ ID NO: 2), wherein X₁, X₂, and X₄ areindependently leucine, alanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine; X₃ istyrosine, alanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine; and X₅ is arginine,alanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine; with the proviso that the PEdoes not comprise LVALYLAARLSW (SEQ ID NO: 3) and that when X₅ isalanine, at least one of X₁, X₂, X₃, and X₄ is alanine, glycine, serine,or glutamine; R³ comprises 1 or more continuous amino acid residues ofresidues 306-394 of SEQ ID NO: 1; and PE functional domain III comprisesresidues 395-613 of SEQ ID NO: 1 with a substitution of amino acidresidue D463, optionally with a substitution of one or more amino acidresidues within one or more B-cell epitopes of SEQ ID NO: 1; and/oroptionally with a substitution of one or more amino acid residues withinone or more T cell epitopes within amino acid residues R421, L422, L423,A425, R427, L429, Y439, H440, F443, L444, A446, A447, I450, amino acidresidues at positions 464-519, R551, L552, T554, I555, L556, and W558 ofSEQ ID NO:
 1. 2. The PE of claim 1, wherein the FCS comprises residues274-284 of SEQ ID NO: 1, and wherein the optional substitution of anamino acid within one or more B-cell epitopes of SEQ ID NO: 1 is asubstitution of alanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine for amino acidresidue E282 of SEQ ID NO:
 1. 3. The PE of claim 1, wherein m is 1 andR¹ comprises residues 285-293 of SEQ ID NO: 1, wherein the optionalsubstitution of an amino acid within one or more B-cell epitopes of SEQID NO: 1 is a substitution of alanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine foramino acid residue E285 and/or P290 of SEQ ID NO:
 1. 4. The PE of claim1, wherein n is 1 and R³ comprises residues 306-394 of SEQ ID NO: 1,wherein the optional substitution of an amino acid within one or moreB-cell epitopes of SEQ ID NO: 1 is a substitution of alanine, glycine,serine, or glutamine for one or more of amino acid residues R313, N314,P319, D324, E327, E331, and Q332 of SEQ ID NO:
 1. 5. The PE of claim 1,wherein the PE functional domain III comprises residues 395-613 of SEQID NO: 1 with a substitution of amino acid residue D463, and wherein theoptional substitution of an amino acid within one or more B-cellepitopes of SEQ ID NO: 1 is a substitution of alanine, glycine, serine,or glutamine for one or more of amino acid residues D403, D406, R412,R427, E431, R432, R458, D461, R467, Y481, R490, R505, R513, L516, E522,R538, E548, R551, R576, K590, Q592, and L597 of SEQ ID NO: 1 and/or asubstitution of valine, leucine, or isoleucine in place of amino acidresidue R490 of SEQ ID NO:
 1. 6. The PE of claim 1, wherein m, n, and pare
 0. 7. The PE of claim 1, wherein amino acid residue D463 issubstituted with alanine, glycine, serine, or glutamine.
 8. The PE ofclaim 1, wherein amino acid residue D463 is substituted with alanine. 9.A pharmaceutical composition comprising (a) the PE of claim 1, and (b) apharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
 10. A chimeric molecule comprising(a) a targeting moiety conjugated or fused to (b) the PE of claim
 1. 11.The chimeric molecule of claim 10, wherein the targeting moiety is amonoclonal antibody or an antigen binding portion thereof.
 12. Thechimeric molecule of claim 11, wherein the monoclonal antibodyspecifically binds to a cell surface marker selected from the groupconsisting of cluster of differentiation (CD) 19, CD21, CD22, CD25,CD30, CD33, CD79b, transferrin receptor, epidermal growth factor (EGF)receptor, mesothelin, cadherin, and Lewis Y.
 13. The chimeric moleculeof claim 11, wherein the targeting moiety is selected from the groupconsisting of B3, RFB4, SS, SS1, MN, MB, HN1, HN2, HB21, MORAb-009, andantigen binding portions thereof.
 14. The chimeric molecule of claim 10,wherein the targeting moiety is the antigen binding portion of HA22. 15.A method of inhibiting the growth of a target cell, wherein the methodcomprises contacting the cell with the PE of claim 1 in an amounteffective to inhibit growth of the target cell.
 16. The method of claim15, wherein the target cell is a cancer cell.
 17. A method of producingthe PE of claim 1, wherein the method comprises (a) recombinantlyexpressing the PE, and (b) purifying the PE.
 18. A method of producingthe chimeric molecule of claim 10, wherein the method comprises (a)recombinantly expressing the chimeric molecule, and (b) purifying thechimeric molecule.